


* 











































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HOW WOMEN 


EARN MONEY 

BY 

EFFIE W. MERRIMAN. 


New York : 

THE F. M. LUPTON PUBLISHING COMPANY. 



Copyright, 1898, by P. M. LuptoN. 
All Rights Reserved. 


yooM/ 



f 


CONTENTS- 


PAGE 

Advertising.90 

Artificial Flowers..51 

Baked Beans and Brown Bread.190 

Bakeries..90 

Bathrooms for Women.124 

Bedding..*72 

Bee-keeping. 169 

Bicycle Maid..128 

Birds..I®® 

Boarders..1® 

Bottoming Chairs.211 

Bride’s Assistant.. 13(1 

Butter Making.. 195 

Candy Making. 135 

Canning, Pickling, etc.28 

Canvassing. 118 

Card Writing. 68 


3 









4 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Caring for Hotel Children. .... 79 

Caring for Pets.131 

Carpet Weaving.163 

Cheese Making..198 

Children’s Clothing.108 

Church Entertainments..143 

City Guides.96 

* Cleaning Lamps, Silver, etc. .... 129 

'Cleaning Offices.88 

Cooking for Grocery Stores. .... 114 

Colts and Calves..169 

Commercial Traveler, The.139 

Confections and Fruit Juices.205 

Corsets, Bands and Dress Forms. . . . 202 

Cozy Corners..147 

Cottage Cheese..89 

Current Topic Parlors.146 

Curtains.109 

Cushions and Pillows..132 

Day Nursery, The.140 

Designing.135 

Dirt by the Bushel..180 

Doll’s Dressmakers.91 

Embroidery.134 

Etiquette and Dancing.82 
















CONTENTS. 


5 


PAGE 

Fancy Book Covers..213 

Farming..206 

Flavoring Extracts..38 

Flowers. .43 

Food Specialties.185 

Frogs.177 

l 

Funeral Inspector.130 

Glove Repairing.125* 

Greens.203 

Hair Work.138 

Hares..42 

Herb Gardens.191 

Holiday Gifts.71 

Home Dyeing..Ill 

Homekeeper’s Agency.75 

Home-made Remedies..137 

Hop Raising. « 88 

Horseradish. .27 

House Cleaning.156 

Hot Beds..200 

Hot Cookies.69 

Hulled Corn.122 

Infant’s Outfits..93 

Intelligence Office.55 

Jewellers. 97 





















6 


CONTENTS. 


Job Printing. 

_ 

• • • • • 

PAGE 

101 

Kindergarten. 

. 

• • • • • 

29 

Knitting Factories. 

. 

• • • • • 

41 

Lace Handkerchiefs. 

. 

• • • • . 

212 

Lace Making. 

. 

• • • • • 

103 

Landscape Gardening. 

. 

• • • • • 

21 

Laundries. 

. 

• • • • 

142 

Lettering. 



214 

Linen Laundries. . 

. 

. 

61 

Loaning Periodicals. 


. 

25 

Lunches. 

. 

• • • • • 

152 

Massage. 



166 

Mending Bureau. 

• 

< « « • . 

184 

Millinery by the Day. 

« 

* « « * 

104 

Mittens. 

• 

« « ■ * . 

74 

Mother’s Assistant. « 


■ ■ * * 

204 

Mushrooms. 

1! • 

1 * * * i(L * 

112 

Music Teaching. , 

* 

. " • y.XVTj' 

* * . . ■ . 

v V* 

■ w ■ « rW * * 

34 

News Stands. * 


70 

Nurse’s Bureau. 

« • 

' * -.v? s v,; * s 

58 

Office Supplies. 

¥ 

* ■ " *.v * ■ 

178 

Paper Flowers. 


* ■ * • 

210 

Paper Hanger’s Assistant 

**'■'■* 

23 

Parlor Millinery. , 

« • 

S B a « # 

94 

Peddling Nuts. 

• 

* « * * m 

92 




CONTENTS 


7 


PAGE 

Photographer’s Supplies. * . K 189 

Piano Tuning. . . . . * . 74 

% ( 

Picture Frames. . . , * . . . 102 

Pigeons. 201 

Pineapples. . . . , * * . .56 

Playhouse for Children. ..... 59 

Polishing Furniture.102 

Polishing Horns. 212 

Popcorn. 26 

Poultry Raising.84 

Private Homes for the Insane.20 

Private Schools. 45 

Professional Duster..80 

Professional Nurses. 106 

Proprietary Goods.39 

Pumpkins.123 

Refreshment Stands.159. 

Remodeling Dresses.108 

Remodeling Hats.51 

Rugs.181 

Saratoga Chips.175 

School for Dress Cutting.150 

Second-hand Book Stores.101 

Selling on Commission. . . . . . 165 

Sericulture..110 
















8 CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Sheep Raising.. • 126 

Shopping. . . . . • * . .99 

Shop-worn Goods. ...... 127 

Small Fruits. .11 

Soft Soap Making. ...... 65 

Sterilized Milk. 52 

Story Telling..81 

Swine Raising. .78 

Table Spreads.133 

Taxidermy. ........ 183 

Tin Mending. ....... 27 

Toilet Counsellor. ....... 178 

Toilet Parlors. ....... 148 

Towel Exchanges. ...... 187 

Transient Housekeepers. ..... 15 

Traveler’s Guide. ..49 

Typewriting. ....... 172 

Underwear..83 

Vegetables.62 

Vinegar. 197 

Visiting Chambermaids.67 

Washing Fluids.114 

Wearing Apparel. ...... 174 

. Women’s Exchanges.154 

' Wonderful Cupboard, The.53 





















PREFACE. 


There are thousands of women in our country who 
feel the need of earning money, but who do not 
know how to go about it. The process of evolution 
has come too soon for many of them, and, as a conse¬ 
quence, they are dazed and sadly in need of a helping 
hand. They are not unwilling to be self-supporting, 
and so it seems all the harder that they must do with¬ 
out the necessaries of life simply because they do not 
know which way to turn in the great field of labor, 
where all is strange to them, and where everybody is 
too busy with his own struggle for bread to even heed 
their presence. It is to them that this little book is 
dedicated. Women who think of entering one of the 
many fields of professional work now open to them 
have progressed too far to be in need of such assist¬ 
ance, and will find nothing here for them. Neither 
are the salaried positions touched upon. To have 
done so would have been to write a book too cum¬ 
bersome for convenience, since women now serve 
as clerks or assistants in nearly every department of 
labor, and, as a rule, their positions can never be 

9 



10 


PREFACE. 


traced to the knowledge of the contents of such a 
book as this. When all the women who incline to 
professional life, and all who are destined to teach 
in our public schools, and all who will serve as clerks 
and assistants, are taken away from the throng of 
women who must earn money, many are still left to 
whom the situation looks very hopeless. It is hoped 
that they may see this little book, and that they will 
find it suggestive. It is not meant to be more than 
that. It would be impossible to give complete in¬ 
structions for the beginning and conducting of all 
the enterprises herein mentioned, because different 
conditions often necessitate different methods. One 
can offer suggestions as to what may be done, but no 
one can tell so well as yourself just how you are to 
do it. One thing is certain: You cannot succeed in 
any line unless you put yourself into your work. Your 
first thought must never be, “Is this as good as I am 
paid for?” but, “Is it as good as I can make it?” You 
must begin with a determination to succeed, and to 
stick to whatever you undertake until you do suc¬ 
ceed. You can only become master of the situation 
by beginning as a slave to it, but never a blind slave 
or a machine. You must think and plan and con¬ 
trive, and everything else must be of secondary im¬ 
portance until you have the mastery, and then you 
can take a long breath, for all your invested ener¬ 
gies will be like well-invested capital, the interest on 
which will help to make life easier. 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


SMALL FRUITS. 

Even a little garden devoted to small fruits may be 
very remunerative, if rightly managed, and it is a 
work that is found exceedingly fascinating by a ma¬ 
jority of the women who have undertaken it. Says 
one enthusiastic advocate of small fruit growing: “To 
transform heavy, black earth and insipid rain water 
into edible rubies with celestial perfume and ambro¬ 
sia flavor is, indeed, an art that appeals to the entire 
race.” 

It is strange but true that, to people living in the 
country, small fruits are very like heaven—objects of 
universal desire, but very general neglect. This may 
be caused, in large measure, from the mistaken idea 
that fine small fruits are difficult to raise. It is alsd 
the result of the ignorance of those who believe that 
they are so easily raised that it is only necessary to 
put some plants into poor, hard ground and leave 
them to fight it out with the weeds. 

11 



12 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


But there are women who have engaged in fruit¬ 
raising as a means of livelihood, and have found it 
profitable. Women who live upon farms may, even if 
they only have a few hours each day to devote to the 
work, make quite a nice little sum of money by the 
raising of small fruit, and they will nearly always find 
a profitable market among their neighbors. When the 
land has been enriched and ploughed there is no work 
connected with the raising of small fruits which a 
woman of ordinary health cannot do. But a com¬ 
paratively small outlay is necessary to begin this 
business, and, unless the soil or climate is very much 
against one, it nearly always pays, the degree of 
profit depending chiefly upon the skill, judgment and 
industry of the worker. 

It is best to begin in a small way and to learn by 
experience and observation how to grow small fruit 
profitably. Do not expect returns before the second or 
third year. If you expect a larger market than that 
afforded by your neighbors, your fruit farm must be 
located where there is quick and cheap access to a 
city. Still, this is not absolutely essential, for many 
women make their fruits pay them well by canning 
them, drying them, or otherwise preserving them for 
market. 

Throughout the Northwest strawberries, red and 
black raspberries, currants and gooseberries may be 
grown successfully; these, with the exception of the 
black raspberries, require no winter protection. The 
quality of the soil, as well as the lay of the land, 
must be taken into consideration, and preference 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


13 


given to that class of small fruits to which your sur¬ 
roundings seem best adapted. A fruit-grower of long 
experience says that, as a rule, soil that is rich, soft 
and moist is adapted to nearly all of the small fruits, 
and that there are none of them which will not do 
better if afforded a little protection through the win¬ 
ter and spring months by mulch spread over the bed. 
He believes that, taking one year with another, the 
best results are obtained by setting out the plants in 
September or October. He selects only strong, vigo¬ 
rous plants, and uses water freely while setting them 
out. He seldom allows them to bear at all the fol¬ 
lowing year, but picks off the blossoms as soon as 
they appear, that all of the strength may go into the 
plant for the next year’s bearing. 

In this, as in other lines of work, one must have the 
best literature to be found on the subject, or expen¬ 
sive and needless blunders will be made. For in¬ 
stance, it should be known that strawberries are of 
two general kinds—pistillates and staminates—and 
that they must be planted together, since they are 
required to fertilize each other. There are many 
strawberry beds which blossom profusely, yet fail to 
bear fruit because of the exclusive use of either pistil¬ 
lates or staminates. 

Two good crops of strawberries are as many as 
can be expected from one bed; then well-rooted run¬ 
ners should be taken up to form a new bed. Those 
who do best in the culture of strawberries set out 
new beds every year. 

Raspberries should produce their best yield the 


14 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


second season and continue bearing up to the sixth 
year, hence they do not need to be renewed so fre¬ 
quently. With proper care, regular removal of old 
wood and careful pruning, currants should bear fruit 
for an indefinite length of time. Gooseberries also 
bear many years, if the bushes are kept well pruned. 
They should not be cultivated after the third year, 
for the roots spread so that they are injured by any 
attempt at cultivation. Strawberries are said to do 
best on low ground that slopes gently toward the 
south, and is so located that moisture may be sup¬ 
plied frequently. Raspberries and currants do best 
on high ground. Gooseberries mildew on high ground, 
but thrive in a low, rich soil. They may be made to 
bear nicely in a clay soil. One should have both 
early and late varieties of every class of small fruit 
that can be grown in her locality, in order that when 
people have learned to look to her for their small 
fruits she may be able to supply every demand. 

No statement as to probable profits can be made 
that would not be misleading, for the reason that, like 
everything else produced from the soil, the season, 
the market, the fall of rain, the composition and 
many other things have to be taken into account. It 
is quite safe, however, to say that, taking one year 
with another, there is sure to be a reasonable profit 
from the sale of small fru'ts. This is frequently sup¬ 
plemented by the sale of plants. 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


15 


TRANSIENT HOUSEKEEPERS* 


There are ladies who, in middle life, find themselves 
obliged to earn their own living. The majority have 
only the ordinary education of the home so far as the 
preparation for work is concerned, with no special 
training in any given line, and to them the bread and 
butter question is a very serious one indeed. It is 
surprising that more of them have not thought of 
advertising to do housekeeping for short periods of 
time. There are many women who would avail them¬ 
selves of a needed rest and change if they knew of 
some thoroughly reliable person who could take 
charge of the home and children for a short time. 
Then there are times when there is a large amount of 
sewing to which a woman must give her attention, 
or there is company to be entertained, or sick¬ 
ness keeps her in her own room, and at such 
times she would be glad to be relieved of all 
anxiety concerning housekeeping duties. All these 
are opportunities for the transient housekeeper. In 
some cases these positions would mean the actual 
work of housekeeping; in other cases it means sim¬ 
ply the care and oversight of the home. The work re¬ 
quires patience, for no two households are managed 
in just the same way, and the one who goes from 
home to home must be able to adapt herself to dif¬ 
ferent surroundings and to keep herself above all 
forms of gossip. In every line of business it is ex¬ 
pected that they who work for short periods of time 



16 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


shall receive a higher rate of compensation than they 
who have permanent positions. This must be kept in 
mind by the transient housekeeper, who will not fail 
to impress the fact upon those who seek her services. 
Again it is expected that any one who undertakes 
this work shall understand every branch of it thor¬ 
oughly, and such knowledge is worth a higher price 
than that given to the ordinary domestic. The tran¬ 
sient housekeeper should not only know her own 
value, but she should never allow herself to be un¬ 
derestimated in any way. She should have a dignity 
of her own. Until she has as many employers on her 
list as she can serve, she will need to advertise quite 
frequently; but it will not be a great while, if she is 
really competent, before she will be making dates a 
long way ahead. The transient housekeeper must 
have a room or some place which she may call home, 
where she can stay when out of work, where her let¬ 
ters may be sent, and where they who need her serv¬ 
ices may go in search of her. 


BOARDERS* 

Everywhere one hears the complaint that there is 
no longer any money to be made keeping boarders, 
yet the fact remains that there are a great many 
women who are earning a living in that way. One 
cannot succeed unless she is a first-class housekeeper 



HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


17 


and has the knack of cooking very appetizing dishes 
out of materials not at all expensive. Before going 
into this work, one must carefully consider her sur¬ 
roundings and not attempt to take ladies and gentle¬ 
men of leisure if the furniture is better adapted to 
the working girl. It is not safe to take a large house 
and furnish it unless one has had sufficient experience 
to know exactly what she can do. 

One very pleasant boarding house was almost en¬ 
tirely furnished with goods bought at a second-hand 
store at a cost of a little more than a hundred dol¬ 
lars, but the lady who did it not only knew exactly 
what she wanted, but she could not easily be deceived 
in values, and she understood how to make old furni¬ 
ture look almost as well as when it was new. She 
had good taste and good judgment, and she could tell 
at a glance whether the furniture in a room was ar¬ 
ranged as effectively as possible, or how it might be 
changed for the better. She knew how to give a 
home-like air to her surroundings. The food she 
placed before her boarders cost much less than that 
which they had eaten in other boarding houses, but 
they liked it better, for they said it tasted “almost as 
if mother had cooked it.” Nothing was slighted. She 
knew how to make the most of everything. She had 
a child-like joy in her own successes, and all her 
boarders—her family, she called them—were interest¬ 
ed in what she did, and felt more at home with her 
in consequence. Her house was always full, and she 
was obliged to turn applicants away almost every 
day. 


18 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


Another woman pays the rent for her family by 
renting a large house which she has furnished and 
then subletting the rooms. She makes enough to 
pay her own rent and bring a fair rate of interest on 
the money she invested in furniture. 

If one lives near a large college or other institu¬ 
tion of learning, it is usually an easy matter to fill 
one’s house with students, but, as a rule, they pay 
less than other boarders, and unless one has a very 
motherly heart they are not as satisfactory. There 
are women, however, who could not be induced to 
take any other class of boarders. 

In many respects there is less annoyance in keep¬ 
ing boarders who belong to the laboring class than 
any others. Their work gives them good appetites, 
and as long as they have enough they are not dis¬ 
posed to complain if all the delicacies the market 
affords are not set before them. They will not ob¬ 
ject to a room with two beds in it so long as the beds 
are comfortable and everything is clean. The good 
housekeeper who knows how to cook plain food so 
as to have it appetizing need not fear to undertake 
keeping this class of boarders. 

There are women who earn a living boarding and 
caring for motherless children, or those whose moth¬ 
ers are obliged to work. This is not unpleasant work 
to the woman who loves children, although, like any¬ 
thing else, it becomes tiresome at times. 

There are other women who are born nurses, who 
board invalids or convalescents, who are not sick 
enough to be in a hospital, yet not well enough to 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


19 


work. Such a boarding house should be located in a 
quiet part of the city, where the air is good and the 
surroundings are cheerful. The landlady must un¬ 
derstand how to care for the sick, as well as how to 
cook for them. She must expect to wait upon her 
boarders, doing for them what they are unable to do 
for themselves, and, of course, she will charge them 
accordingly. They will expect to pay more than at 
an ordinary boarding house, since she enables them 
to dispense with a nurse. 

Many women who have pleasant country homes 
earn their pin money by keeping summer boarders. 
'One woman, living on a farm that ran down to the 
shores of a pretty lake, conceived the idea of having 
a number of picturesque log houses built between 
her own house and the lake shore; then she adver¬ 
tised that she was prepared to board working girls 
who needed a vacation for three dollars a week. Her 
log houses are filled from early spring until late in 
the fall, and one must always engage board a long 
time ahead. She makes money at it, even though her 
prices are low, for she is an expert gardener, has a 
fine hothouse that insures early vegetables, keeps 
cows, raises poultry and almost supplies her table 
from her little farm. Her girls enjoy good, gen¬ 
uine country living as long as they are with her, and 
always return to their work rested and invigorated. 

Another woman who has learned how to make her 
farm pay does it by boarding school boys during sum¬ 
mer vacations. She has the entire upper floor of the 
barn filled with cot beds, and no boy can be induced 


20 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


to sleep in the house so long as there is room in the 
barn for him. The farm is situated in the woods, and 
the boys run wild without causing their elders any 
great amount of worry, for there is really little that 
can harm them. They adore the jolly couple who care 
for them, and try to obey them. There are many 
parents who would be glad to have their sons so well 
cared for during the long vacations, and who would 
not object to paying for such accommodations. To 
get such boarders one must, of course, have good 
recommendations from reliable and well-known par¬ 
ties. 

-o- 

PRIVATE HOMES FOR THE INSANE* 


There are women who own large, comfortable 
homes, but who have small incomes, who are caring 
for the mildly insane as a means of livelihood. No 
more benevolent means of money-making can be 
thought of than this. There are many persons con¬ 
demned to an insane asylum who are really harmless 
and who might, perhaps, become entirely cured if 
placed under conditions where they could be prop¬ 
erly cared for, yet where they would be happy, and 
would not be obliged to feel as if they were in a prison 
under constant guardianship. In many cases the rel¬ 
atives are abundantly able to pay for the privilege of 
such a home, but do not know where to look for it. 

The ideal place for such work would be a large 
country house, with fine surroundings and well 




HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


21 


walled in. It should be near enough to the city to 
permit of regular visits from a physician, as well as 
from the friends of the patients. All of the domestics 
employed should he chosen for their fitness for the 
position—that is, they should have the qualities es¬ 
sential to a good nurse, as well as the ability to do 
the particular Work for which they are employed. 
Cheap help should never be sought. The boarding 
mistress should charge enough to enable her to em¬ 
ploy those fitted for the work. 

One who has the right qualifications for this work 
and the proper surroundings will have little difficulty 
in finding patients. She should tell physicians in all 
the nearest cities what she is prepared to do, and 
should also visit the nearest asylums, that she may 
have a talk' with the officials. Very often they have 
a patient who has been placed on the convalescent 
list, whom they would like to have sent to some such 
place for a time before discharging him as cured, in 
order to see how he behaves when out from under 
hospital restraint. They would not bear the expense 
themselves, but there are few instances where the 
friends or relatives of the patient could not be in¬ 
duced to do so, should they recommend it. 

-o- 

LANDSCAPE GARDENING* 


One woman of fine taste and quick perception makes 
her spending money by laying out yards and lawns 




22 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


for those who can afford to pay for such services. 
She employs a strong laboring man, who goes with 
her to help carry out her ideas; sometimes she gives 
work to more than one man. Quite frequently she is 
not asked to superintend the v/ork at all, hut simply 
to plan it. In that case she draws a picture of the 
lawn as she thinks it should look, and beneath it she 
writes the name of every tree, shrub and flower she 
has employed, indicating each one in the drawing by 
means of figures. She has an enviable reputation for 
her artistic rookeries and summer houses, and often 
superintends the erection of them upon lawns already 
laid out. She charges according to the amount of 
work she is required to do. While looking over her 
books at the close of last year she divided what she 
had received by the number of hours given to the 
work, and found that she had been paid at the rate of 
five dollars for eight hours’ work. It would be good 
pay if she could get as much of the work as she could 
do, but, although frequently sent for by the residents 
of neighboring towns, she earns but little more than 
her spending money as yet. Every year, however, 
Americans realize more fully the desirability of hav¬ 
ing more artistic grounds around their homes, and 
she thinks there is a fair prospect of her work in¬ 
creasing. 

She has had no lessons except those learned from 
observation and the reading of works on landscape 
gardening. She has traveled quite extensively, and 
has made many sketches of handsome lawns. She 
has, besides, many photographs of private and pub- 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


23 


lie parks. She is gifted with the qualifications that 
are needed to make her successful in this line of 
work, but says there is nothing about it that another 
woman might not learn, provided she has a taste 
for it. 

-o- 

PAPER-HANGER'S ASSISTANT* 


The work of paper-hanging is entirely too hard for 
the average woman, but as an assistant she can be 
of considerable vise, and should be able to earn fair 
wages. One lady assists her husband, who is a paper- 
hanger, and he says he would much rather have her 
than a man assistant. Not only is she much neater, 
but she is more dextrous. Her work consists of trim¬ 
ming the paper, cutting it into proper lengths, spread¬ 
ing the paste and handing the paper to the paper- 
hanger. Of course this, like any other employment 
where care should be used, requires some training, 
for it is very easy to spoil a great many dollars’ worth 
of paper where it is of an expensive quality. 

A woman of good taste might build up a nice busi¬ 
ness for herself by sending out circulars just before 
the spring and fall cleaning season, announcing her 
willingness to act as adviser in the matter of select¬ 
ing wall paper. There are many women who long to 
have their homes decorated in good taste, and yet do 
not know what kinds of wall paper they should se¬ 
lect to harmonize with their carpets and furniture. 
They would be glad to have some one relieve them of 



24 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


this anxiety. The lady can charge a certain sum for 
advice, and then she can give prices at which she will 
agree to hang the paper—that is, she takes the con¬ 
tract to hang it and then she hires a reliable paper- 
hanger to do the work, with her assistance. She 
must, of course, have unerring taste and judgment 
besides a knowledge of the latent styles in paper, with 
prices, the best places to buy and the most competent 
workmen, with the wages they can command. She 
must also know how to figure the amount of paper 
needed for a room of any size or shape. If she is so 
fortunate as to have a friend who deals in wall paper, 
she can, without doubt, serve an apprenticeship with 
him, more especially if she is willing to do so without 
pay. Once in a paper house, she must keep her eyes 
open for opportunities to extend her knowledge. They 
will not be lacking, and if she is only observing and 
ready to embrace every opportunity, she ought not to 
be a great while in fitting herself to take contracts. 
When she has once made a name for herself she can 
easily get new houses that are to be papered through¬ 
out, and then her business will begin to be of impor¬ 
tance. As her advice will necessarily be asked in re¬ 
gard to the finishing of the woodwork in the different 
rooms, she must not neglect this part of her educa¬ 
tion. 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


25 


LOANING PERIODICALS* 


There is a woman who writes very good practical 
articles, but she has not succeeded in finding a cash 
market for many of them. She lives in a small town 
where there is no library, and where there are women 
—and men, too—who like to read, but who cannot af¬ 
ford to subscribe for many periodicals. One day it 
occurred to her to start a circulating library of peri¬ 
odicals such as she could earn by writing. She 
knew that she would run a risk of incurring the dis¬ 
pleasure of that large class of persons who would 
rather borrow reading matter than be independent 
about it, but she decided that the sooner they were 
given to understand that they must pay for the priv¬ 
ilege of reading her periodicals the better. She im¬ 
mediately had a few circular letters typewritten, say¬ 
ing that it cost her to get the periodicals, and that 
she should be very glad to loan them for a consider¬ 
ation. It was not long before she had patrons who 
had longed to read some of the good things continu¬ 
ally coming to' her house, but who hesitated about 
borrowing, and she found many editors of good pe¬ 
riodicals who were glad to take her manuscripts in 
payment for subscriptions. She does not earn a 
great amount, but she takes in enough to pay a girl 
to help about the work, and leave her time for doing 
what she likes better. 



26 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


POPCORN* 


Ours is said to be a nation of popcorn eaters, and 
there must be considerable truth in the statement, for 
popcorn furnishes a great many people with their 
bread and butter. 

At all public gatherings, at summer resorts, at 
skating rinks—wherever people gather for enter¬ 
tainment of a public nature—there you will find the 
popcorn vender. The business seems greatly over¬ 
done, yet every one who enters it seems to sell his 
popcorn. 

A neatly dressed young woman, of lady-like appear¬ 
ance, sells almost as much as her invalid mother can 
prepare. They have rooms downtown, and she runs 
home for a fresh supply as soon as she has disposed 
of a basketful. Only enough to fill one market basket 
with the five-cent bags is popped at one time, so it 
usually reaches the customer fresh and hot. The 
cleanest corn and the nicest butter is used, and one 
who likes popcorn and buys once is sure to become 
a regular customer. 

The mother also makes delicious popcorn balls and 
cracker-jack, and some of both are usually carried 
by the daughter in a smaller and daintier basket. 
While they sell well, there is not as good a market 
for them as for the freshly popped corn. 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


27 


TIN MENDING* 


A bright young girl, who calls herself the boy of 
the family, having always been handy with tools, 
is now earning pin money by going from house to 
house for the purpose of mending dishes of tin and 
granite ware. She carries an outfit with her in a 
handy little case, and as she makes her rounds regu¬ 
larly, housewives have learned to know when she 
may be expected, and their disabled tinware or gran¬ 
ite wear is piled up waiting her arrival. She is ex¬ 
pert, and is making her queer trade profitable. 


HORSE-RADISH* 

A certain woman invested fifteen dollars in horse¬ 
radish roots, a horse-radish grater, vinegar and bot¬ 
tles. During the first year, after her horse-radish 
became large enough to use, she sold enough to re¬ 
place the fifteen dollars invested and leave her twice 
the number of bottles she had when she began. Next 
year she cleared twenty-five dollars and did all her 
own work. The third year she paid a girl from the 
money she received from the sale of horse-radish, 
and had twenty-five dollars left, yet she had rested 
more hours than she ever had before. Her trade is 
growing nicely, for every one who tries her horse¬ 
radish likes it, and she expects to pay her kitchen 
help and have fifty dollars next year. 




28 HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 

CANNING, PICKLING, ETC 


A woman who has become known as an expert in 
canning fruit and making pickles, preserves and jel¬ 
lies, can usually find employment during the fruit 
season. One woman does all such work at home. Her 
customers pay for the fruit, sugar and cans and give 
her a certain price per quart for her work. They find 
that the most satisfactory way, and the woman has 
all she can do. Another woman puts up all kinds of 
fruit as it comes into the market and sells it when 
the weather is cold. She sells part of it through the 
Woman’s Exchange, but much the larger part is sold 
directly to the housewife. She has a number of 
small bottles with large mouths into which she puts 
samples of her fruit before starting on her canvass¬ 
ing tour. These bottles are packed into a large bas¬ 
ket, and when the lady at whose house she calls has 
tasted some of the samples she is almost sure to give 
her an order for something. The woman who puts 
up the fruit says she finds few housewives who have 
put up all kinds of fruit for themselves and, having 
such a variety, she is sure to sell something at almost 
every house. She has an order book in which every 
order is carefully written. While putting up her 
fruit, she kept a strict account of all expenditures. 
To this she added her labor and the probable cost of 
disposing of her fruit, so she knows before starting 
out just what she must charge for each article on her 
list. 



HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


29 


In addition to her canned fruits, jellies and pre¬ 
serves she has all kinds of pickles and catsups, chili 
sauce and chow-chow. Since much of this may he 
made late in the season, she is usually busy from early 
spring until after the holidays. It is a treat to go 
into her store-room and cellar, and one can hardly 
leave without buying some of the good things that 
are packed from floor to ceiling. 

She has a small garden in which she raises a little 
fruit and nearly all the vegetables used in her mixed 
pickles and other relishes. She has a genius for com¬ 
pounding fruits into sauces that puzzle and delight 
the taste. One winter she sold a hundred cans of 
sauce that everybody liked, and few could tell was 
simply rhubarb and oranges stewed together and 
canned. She makes fine jellies of two or three fruits, 
and fruit butter that is made of several kinds of fruit, 
and is much liked by her customers. Some of these 
mixtures have fancy names of her own invention, 
and she refuses to tell how she makes them, claim¬ 
ing that her recipes are part of her stock in trade. 

-o- 

KINDERGARTEN. 

Few pleasanter occupations are to be found by the 
girl who is interested in children than that of con¬ 
ducting a kindergarten. There are few, too, which 
offer better inducements. 

The interest in kindergartens is constantly becom- 



30 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


ing greater; the demand for them is increasing, and 
the number of girls who are prepared for the work 
is comparatively few. 

All over the country people are awakening to the 
value of the kindergarten training for their children, 
and with this growth of popular favor there must 
be a corresponding growth in opportunities for the 
young girls who take up the work. 

Any bright girl with a good, common-school edu¬ 
cation, a liking for children and good health is ready 
to begin a training for the kindergarten. 

Many times the question is asked: “Can a girl pre¬ 
pare herself thoroughly for teaching a kindergarten 
without attending a training school?” To the many 
girls who are asking this question eagerly, and who 
see no way of attending such a school, it is hard to 
be obliged to answer, “No,” and yet this is the only 
answer that can be honestly made. 

She may read Froebel’s works and the other works 
bearing upon this subject, and thus become to some 
extent familiar with the methods of these schools, but 
there is an indefinable “atmosphere” in a true kin¬ 
dergarten which is one of its most potent factors, and 
this comes only from association with other workers 
and a thorough assimilation of the kindergarten prin¬ 
ciples. Aside from this, most of the kindergarten 
literature would be unintelligible to the general 
reader. These works are taken up paragraph by par¬ 
agraph and explained, studied and assimilated in the 
training schools. 

A girl may read the kindergarten books that are 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


31 


written in popular style, study the gifts and occupa¬ 
tion material, and then establish a “play school” 
which will be a pleasure to herself and the little 
people who attend, but it will not be a kindergarten. 
There are hundreds of just such schools in this coun¬ 
try, and they are usually designated kindergartens, 
but they have no real claim to tfcn.t title, and thus 
named are a means of making the kindergarten mis¬ 
understood. 

For the girl who cannot go to training school and 
who wishes to establish a “play school” for little 
children, the best plan to pursue would be to study 
Miss Elizabeth Harrison’s “A Study of Child Nature,” 
and “Nursery Science,” by Florence Hull Winter- 
burne; also Elinor Smith’s “Songs for Little Child¬ 
ren” and Emilie Poulsson’s “Finger Play Book.” It 
would also be well to subscribe for some periodical 
devoted to kindergarten work. Do not understand 
me to say that the play school is not legitimate and, 
in many cases where a kindergarten is not to be had, 
desirable—so long as it does not bear a name to which 
it is not entitled. The books mentioned, with a sup¬ 
ply of the gifts and occupation materials of the kin¬ 
dergarten, will enable a girl to open a school for 
children which will be both pleasant and acceptable. 
But the underlying principle which gives each game 
a meaning, and which makes of the gifts and occu¬ 
pations a symmetrical whole, of which each is a 
necessary and related part—this will all be lacking 
because it will not be understood. Another item which 
must not be overlooked is that when an opportunity 


32 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


presents itself for real work in a salaried position, the 
teacher of such a school will not be able to fill it. 
Often, however, such a school can be opened and kept 
up long enough to enable the teacher to earn suffi¬ 
cient money to attend a training school later on. 

The next method of preparation for the girl who 
cannot attend a training school, and one which may 
be pursued if the right sort of teacher can be found, 
is to offer her services in an established kindergarten 
in return for the instruction received. Before doing 
this she must be sure that the teacher of the kinder¬ 
garten has herself been well trained, and must have 
it understood that she is to be taught the theory out 
of school hours, as well as the practice in the schooL 

The success of this method will depend upon the 
teacher quite as much as upon the pupil, and, al¬ 
though it is seldom really satisfactory, it is the best 
and only substitute for the training school that can 
be had. Even then, unless it can be supplemented by 
a short course afterward, it seldom prepares a girl for 
the best positions, although it may enable her to 
open a kindergarten of her own. 

A training-school course may be completed in one 
year—that is, in nine months. Usually one is required 
to pay about fifty dollars for tuition and fifteen dol¬ 
lars for the materials used. Of course, where one 
has to leave home to attend school, there is the addi¬ 
tional expense of board. 

The training school combines both theory and prac¬ 
tice. The students observe the work in various kin¬ 
dergartens in the city during the morning from nine 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


33 


until twelve, and in the afternoon they are in the 
school. Here they study the theories and methods 
of the kindergartens, and are taught simple music, 
drawing and physical culture, as applied to the kin¬ 
dergarten. They make the various kinds of hand¬ 
work taught, and study the use of the gifts, the games 
and the plays. 

At the end of nine months the student, if at all 
bright and capable, is competent to take charge of a 
kindergarten, and is granted a certificate to that 
effect. A second year’s study is often taken, 
sometimes in connection with teaching, but it is not 
absolutely necessary. The tuition for the second 
year is twenty-five dollars, with no additional ex¬ 
pense for material. 

The reason the matter of the training school is 
urged is because thorough work is needed in all lines 
of employment, and they who hope to compete suc¬ 
cessfully along any line should realize this. Those 
in charge of the training schools are constantly re¬ 
ceiving requests for teachers to be sent here and else¬ 
where. “But we must have competent teachers,” is 
the word that comes, “not parrot kindergartners.” 

It would hardly pay to open a kindergarten for less 
than twelve scholars. The first cost of establishing one 
for that number would be twenty dollars for gifts and 
occupation material, five dollars a dozen for chairs, 
and five dollars and fifty cents for a table. A copy of 
Emilie Poulsson’s “Finger Play Book” and of Elinor 
Smith's “Songs for Little Children” will be found 
quite necessary. The question of rent and fuel must 


34 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


be of local determination. A table might be made at 
home, and the expense lessened to that extent. It 
should be six feet long, two feet and six inches wide 
and twenty inches high. The top must be very ac¬ 
curately marked off in one-inch squares for the use 
of the gifts. A discount of ten per cent, can usually 
be obtained if orders are accompanied by cash. 

The average price charged per pupil is seventy-five 
cents per week. It varies from fifty cents to one dol¬ 
lar, according to location and to the circumstances of 
the parents for whose children it is established. The 
hours are from nine until twelve noon. Materials and 
books are to be had from any kindergarten supply 
house. There are training schools in nearly all the 
large cities to which one can go for further informa¬ 
tion or to apply for instructions. 


MUSIC TEACHING* 


In these days the ordinary music teacher has rather 
a hard time of it, for her name is legion. There is 
seldom much to be made in a field of work that is 
filled with workers who are only half fitted for it. 
The one who is well fitted, while she must suffer be¬ 
cause of the presence of the others, will always have 
something to do. 

One woman has proven that it is possible for a 
member of her sex who is a thorough musician to 




HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY 


35 


make money in a school for music, even when it is. 
started in the neighborhood of an established con¬ 
servatory of music, presided over by a man of fine 
reputation as a musician. 

This woman began by soliciting pupils from house 
to house, agreeing to take them for considerably less 
than the usual rate, provided she could have a class, 
of twelve beginners to teach all at once. She used 
the blackboard as well as the piano, and, having been 
a successful teacher in the primary school, she under¬ 
stood how to teach beginners by applying methods 
that had proven successful in other branches of learn¬ 
ing. She was enthusiastic and knew how to make her 
pupils work. She had a long framework fitted with 
keys, and her pupils were kept practicing on this im¬ 
provised keyboard, at the same time being encour¬ 
aged to watch each other and report any wrong fin¬ 
gering. 

It would take too long to describe the various meth¬ 
ods adopted by this woman who dared be original. 
Suffice it to say that her pupils learned rapidly, that 
they enjoyed two hours a day they spent with her, 
and that other pupils were soon applying for mem¬ 
bership in her school. She would not take private 
pupils, and applicants were always obliged to wait 
until a class could be formed. The teacher was en¬ 
abled to make the price so low that her pupils could 
come to her every day at first. She did not want them 
to practice at home until they had taken at least a 
term, for she preferred to watch them closely, that 
they would be less likely to form bad habits, and she 


36 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


considered two hours a day sufficient length of time 
for beginners to give to their work. This enabled 
children to begin, even if there were no musical in¬ 
strument at home, and that pleased many parents 
who did not wish to purchase a piano until they knew 
whether or not they had a child possessing enough 
musical Ability to make it worth while. In this way 
she secured pupils that no other music teacher would 
have thought of taking. She clung steadily to two 
rules: First, she would only take beginners; second, 
she would not teach except in classes. 

She soon had as many pupils as she could teach, 
and she proved that it paid to dare to go out of the 
beaten rut in teaching music as in anything else. 


BAKERIES. 


One always thinks of a baker in the masculine 
gender, yet it is hard to see why employment so very 
feminine in its nature should be given over to men. 
There is one woman who did not believe in such a 
division of work, and who decided to start a bakery of 
her own. She always used her initials only when 
signing her name to any document, and it was gen¬ 
erally supposed that her father owned the bakery, and 
she helped manage it. When the truth of the matter 
began to leak out it was too late for people to predict 
failure, as they trould undoubtedly have done had it 




HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


37 


been known at first. In speaking of it once the lady- 
said: “Custom can kill an enterprise, or at least retard 
its growth, although the slaves of custom do not mean 
to work such dire results. Father was never success¬ 
ful in any undertaking, and I had always done what 
I set out to do, yet there had never been a woman 
baker in this part of the country, and for me to have 
made known my intentions would have set every one 
predicting failure. Human nature runs after the suc¬ 
cessful, and kicks the unsuccessful a little farther 
down the hill of adversity. I did not mean to have 
one more battle to fight in the beginning than was 
absolutely necessary, so I bowed to the unwritten 
laws of custom and let it be understood that a man 
was at the head of my bakery. Had people begun to 
prophesy failure every one would have tried to have 
the prophesy fulfilled by patronizing my rival at the 
other end of the city. As it is—well,” with a sweep of 
the hand, indicating her tempting goods and neatly 
kept shop, “you can see that I do not lack patron¬ 
age. I began by baking bread that was first class in 
every respect, and by having hot rolls at a certain 
hour every day. Of course I baked other things, but 
I advertised my bread and rolls, and gave my first 
attention to them, for in this day we must have a spe¬ 
cialty to advertise. I superintended everything my¬ 
self, and tried to have it all of the best, and that is 
the only secret of my success, so far as I know. 
There is no reason why other women can not run 
bakeries if they want to do it and are willing to work 
hard enough. Of course they ought to serve an ap- 


$8 HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


prenticeship that would make them acquainted with 
all the different branches of the work.” 

A man and his wife who are no longer young have 
established a “Home Bakery” in my city which pays 
them well. They have a reputation for making the 
finest toasted rusks and cream puffs to be obtained in 
the city, and they sell quantities of them. Of course 
they sell other things to the customers, who walk 
many blocks for toasted rusks and cream puffs. 

There is hardly a town of ten thousand inhabitants 
in which at least one “home bakery” cannot be made 
to pay. 


FLAVORING EXTRACTS* 


The wife of a commercial traveler, finding herself 
alone a great deal, began to look about her for some 
employment that would fill the long days of her hus¬ 
band’s absence. She soon saw that she could get noth¬ 
ing to do unless willing to work every day, and she 
knew her husband would raise decided objections to 
any such arrangement, for he was abundantly able 
to support her. If she found employment it must be 
at something where she could be her own mistress. 
She knew how to make very fine flavoring extracts 
and ’ acceptable perfumes, and had often made them 
for gifts to friends. She knew that the profits on 
such articles are very large, and she enjoyed the 
work. She could not peddle, but she knew a woman 



HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


39 


who could and would be glad of the opportunity, and 
so she purchased enough supplies for a start and went 
to work. She worked only during her husband’s ab¬ 
sence, and for a year he did not have a suspicion of 
the little business that was steadily growing almost 
under his nose. She felt obliged to tell him then, be¬ 
cause she wished to move into a house where she 
could do her work more conveniently. 

She has a number of women traveling for her now, 
and their samples include extracts of all kinds, blue¬ 
ing, liquid shoe blacking and perfumes. She hopes 
to pay for a little home for her old father and mother 
without help from her husband, and without doubt 
she will succeed. 


- 0 - 

PROPRIETARY GOODS. 


More than one woman has made a fortune in pro¬ 
prietary goods, but all who have done so have had 
more than an average amount of business ability. 

A certain business woman, who is well known over 
all the United States as the manufacturer of a pop¬ 
ular toilet article, was once a clerk in a dry goods 
house. She chanced to learn that certain ingredients 
would produce certain results, and began to experi¬ 
ment, with no other thought than to supply her own 
toilet table. She succeeded in making a really ex¬ 
cellent article, and soon her friends asked her to 
make some for them. She did so, charging what she 



40 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


herself had usually paid for articles of a similar na¬ 
ture, and little by little her trade grew. Then, being 
worn out with clerking, she decided to try to increase 
her list of customers a little faster. She gave a nice 
name to her merchandise, bought a box of bottles, 
had some labels printed, and did a little advertising. 
She showed her business ability by her choice of pe¬ 
riodicals in which to place her advertisements. She 
now keeps more than one printing press busy in get¬ 
ting out her circulars, and, although she is still a 
young woman, she is listed among our millionaires. 

It would surprise one who has never given the mat¬ 
ter much thought to read the chemist’s reports of the 
various proprietary articles which have become fa¬ 
mous. There are few which might not be made at 
home, or which are really more efficacious than would 
be a preparation put up from a formula taken from 
an ordinary doctor’s book. They are more famous 
because some one with good business ability foresaw 
that he could make money by advertising them. One 
should have considerable money for advertising pur¬ 
poses, if he would have speedy results, but that a 
large amount of money is not necessary in order to 
succeed eventually is proven by the experience of the 
lady just mentioned. One must have a really merito¬ 
rious article to begin with, and then if one has a 
genius for advertising, success is sure to result in due 
time. 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


41 


KNITTING FACTORIES* 

In this day of cheap, ready-made, knitted under¬ 
wear it would not seem that a living could be made in 
a knitting factory opened in one room of a dwelling 
house, but there is such a factory in a Western city 
that seems to support quite a large family. There 
are two knitting machines kept almost constantly at 
work—one run by the woman who started the factory, 
the other by the invalid husband and the eldest 
daughter. They make all sorts of knitted underwear 
to order, taking careful measurements and sending 
home garments that fit much better than the ordinary 
custom-made underwear. Then one has a choice of 
yarn used, which is a source of satisfaction. While 
the garments wear better than those usually for sale, 
their price is no greater, and so the business grows 
quickly, considering the fact that there is no adver¬ 
tising done except by the pleased customer who tells 
her friends. Besides knitting new garments, these 
people repair old ones made by them by cutting out 
worn places and setting in new pieces—a proceeding 
that appeals to the ordinary housewife and tends to 
make her a customer for an indefinite length of time. 
Stockings, mittens, leggins and sweaters are also 
made to order in this factory, and silk thread is used 
instead of yarn whenever desired. 


42 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


HARES. 


The fact that there is a certain time in the year 
when nice hares bring a good price in the market 
ought to suggest a means of earning pin money to 
those looking for something that may be done at 
home. Women who have tried raising hares for mar¬ 
ket say they are more profitable than poultry, for 
they require less care and bring a better price. As is 
well known, they are prolific. Many people like the 
meat of our common wild rabbit, but it is not so good 
as that of the German hare, and the latter possesses 
another point in its favor, being nearly three times 
as large as its wild brother. When well grown they 
often weigh twelve pounds. They can be fed on cab¬ 
bage, hay and turnips during those months when 
grass is not abundant enough for their needs. They 
bear confinement well, and may be kept on a village 
lot, but measures must be taken to keep them at 
home, for one’s neighbors are apt to consider them a 
nuisance. One writer on this subject recommends 
sinking galvanized wire netting into the ground about 
six inches, allowing the upper part to form a fence 
around their park. She says it is a good plan to place 
their house in the center of this inclosure, that they 
may burrow under it, for it gives them needed exer¬ 
cise. 



HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


43 


FLOWERS* 


In all cities and most small towns there is a de¬ 
mand for flowers and an opportunity for women who 
are successful in raising them to make a fairly good 
income by the sale of plants and blossoms—yes, and 
seeds, too. A Minneapolis woman makes considerable 
money selling her flower seeds, for which she has 
gained quite a reputation, although she has done but 
little advertising. There are several women now en¬ 
gaged in making perfumes and face washes from 
flowers, and others who make a little pin money pre¬ 
paring rose leaves for head rests and rose jars. 

One should not attempt to cultivate flowers for 
profit unless she is, generally speaking, successful in 
caring for them. There seems to be an indescribable 
but necessary qualification possessed by some women 
that others do not have. With such women flowers 
always grow without giving any trouble, while other 
women care for theirs most conscientiously and still 
lose them. 

One woman carries flowers to the downtown offices, 
going to each one during the week. They are all 
pretty, old-fashioned flowers, simply arranged in 
little bouquets that she sells for five cents each. She 
carries them closely packed in a basket. Another 
woman, an invalid, is brought into town in the morn¬ 
ing and deposited on a street corner, chair and all. 
She has great baskets of cut flowers with her, which 
she arranges into bouquets during the day and sells 



44 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


for five cents each. These women depend entirely on 
little, old-fashioned flower gardens for their pin 
money. Still another woman earns money by caring 
for plants through the winter for women whose 
houses are too cold to allow of their being kept at 
home. 

Other women spend most of their time raising 
houseplants for sale. One woman earns a great deal 
of money raising early plants to be used for bedding 
purposes and for window boxes. Another supplies 
flowers for cemetery vases, and still another gives 
the larger part of her time to the care of bulbous 
plants. 

One can usually do well in a village or small town 
which is not considered large enough to support a 
greenhouse, especially if she provide for a brisk de¬ 
mand on Christmas and Easter, and always has some¬ 
thing suitable for weddings and funerals. 

While it is well to have a conservatory, one can 
make a start without one, more especially if there 
are a number of sunny windows in the house. Many 
prefer plants raised at home to those raised in the 
greenhouse, for they suffer less in changing, and so 
are considered more satisfactory in the long run. One 
may, therefore, build urt a nice little business, even 
if there are greenhouse rer by. In this, as in every¬ 
thing else, it is wisest to begin on a small scale. 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


45 


PRIVATE SCHOOLS. 

Teaching has long been one of the favorite employ¬ 
ments of women, and it does not lose adherents as the 
years go by. We are not dealing in these pages with 
salaried positions, so in this article will simply men¬ 
tion private schools as a means of money making. 
There are private schools for girls and small boys 
scattered all over the country. The majority of them 
are run by women, and nearly all are self-supporting, 
while some are paying well. A woman who knows 
how to teach, who has considerable business ability 
and a few good references, can nearly always succeed 
in securing pupils. 

Two sisters once agreed to coach three young girls 
during vacation on the studies in which they had 
failed to pass the required examination. They taught 
them so well that at the next examination they led 
their class in these studies and, by studying with the 
sisters during another vacation, were enabled to pass 
into a higher grade. From that time on the sisters 
were constantly besieged by parents who were willing 
to pay well to have their children taught in their 
home, and now they have one of the finest private 
boarding schools in the East. 

A girl with a little income of her own and a natu¬ 
ral love for teaching manages to live more comforta¬ 
bly than her income would allow her to by taking pri¬ 
vate pupils. She opens a private school at one of the 
most fashionable summer resorts every summer and 


46 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


at a popular winter resort during the cold weather. 
She visits parents in person, shows her references and 
explains her methods. Her pupils are only taught 
from nine to twelve each day, and they have no stud¬ 
ies to take up out of school hours. She succeeds in 
making mothers see that it is better for the child to 
study a little, even though away from home, that it 
does not injure its health in the least, and that it will 
he a relief to all the adults to be free from the child¬ 
ren’s noise for a few hours each day. She does not 
try to get a very large class, for she has no intention 
of working herself into invalidism. She simply means 
to piece out her income in the pleasantest way at her 
command, and her work is really more of a pleasure 
than a task. Because she feels that way about it, she 
is enabled to make enthusiastic students of her pu¬ 
pils. 

A girl who is thoroughly well qualified to teach 
the deaf has located in one of our Western cities, 
where she is making fifty dollars a month more than 
her expenses by taking private pupils in lip reading. 

A lady who had fine educational advantages, as well 
as the advantages of travel, was left in destitute cir¬ 
cumstances, and now earns her living by teaching 
other women how to pronounce foreign words that 
are frequently used here. She also tells them of the 
sights to be seen wdien they are about to travel, illus¬ 
trating by means of photographs, and gives them in¬ 
formation that enables them to not only get the most 
good from their journey, but to talk of it when they 
return without showing their ignorance in every sen- 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


47 


tence they utter, as so many do. Her lessons last an 
hour and a half, and cost five dollars each. If two or 
three, or even more, wish to form a class and divide 
the expense, they are at liberty to do so; she has 
many of the suddenly-made-rich who would, on no 
account, have it made known that they felt the need 
of such instruction. She employs the conversational 
method of teaching, principally, and requires her pu¬ 
pils to write from memory, when they return home, a 
sort of synopsis of what she has told them. At the 
next lesson she questions them on the previous one 
in a way that shows that she expects them to be earn¬ 
est students. Their wealth does not cause her to hes¬ 
itate for fear of giving offense when criticism is mer¬ 
ited. 

Conversational methods of teaching are becoming 
more and more popular, and classes are being 
formed everywhere for instruction in foreign lan¬ 
guages, in history, in current topics and in literature. 
These classes are most frequently taught by men, but 
there is no reason why they should not be organized 
by properly qualified women and he made to pay. 
Indeed, two of the best private classes in history ever 
organized are taught by a Western woman, who man¬ 
ages to live on what she is thus enabled to earn. One 
class is taught in the evening, the other in the after¬ 
noon, and every year she is obliged to refuse pupils 
who wish to join, because her parlors are crowded to 
the utmost capacity. 

A flourishing school of elocution in the West is 
managed entirely by a woman, and in the same city 


48 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


another woman organized a school of music and 
made it pay, notwithstanding the fact that a man had 
already entered the field and won a reputation that 
seemed would eclipse all lesser lights. 

Of late years schools where housekeeping methods 
are taught are becoming popular and open up a fine 
field of labor for the woman who understands how to 
teach as well as how to keep house. In these schools 
a term usually consists of twenty-four lessons. Pros¬ 
pective housekeepers are taught in the morning and 
working girls in the evening. 

A woman in the West earns her living by giving 
lessons to foreigners of the working class. She 
teaches in the evening exclusively, and charges each 
pupil ten cents a lesson. She teaches them how to 
speak English, as well as how to read and write. She 
gives little talks on the history of our country and on 
current topics, which serve to vary the monotony of 
the study hours. She also gives them instruction in 
our laws and customs, and fits them generally to be¬ 
come intelligent citizens. She has three different 
classes, each of which meet twice weekly, and she 
averages a dollar and a half an evening for her work. 
She certainly could not earn more in any other way 
and have her days for her home duties. 

There is a woman who has a class which she in¬ 
structs in music, literature and art—not to be work¬ 
ers, but to know how to appreciate and criticise the 
work of others. She is a woman of more than ordi¬ 
nary talent, being able to do all these things in an 
acceptable manner, and, above all, she is a critic of 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


49 


discrimination. She knows how to take a book, a 
picture or a piece of music apart, piece by piece, and 
point out every little beauty, every little defect, every 
instance where the worker lost sight of his ideal. 

Books, pictures and music that have been studied 
with her are always afterward used by the pupil as 
objects of comparison, and have an added value that 
is worth more than the price paid for instruction, 
which, by the way, is far from being a small one. 

One of the latest fads is to organize classes for the 
cultivation of the memory. The one who organizes the 
class has previously invented some method whereby 
this may be done successfully in his opinion, and 
since one must be decidedly original as well as a 
teacher, many classes are not likely to be started as 
a means of money making by very many. 

There is a very general desire for more education 
at the present time, and any one who knows anything 
particularly well and understands how to impart his 
knowledge can find some one to learn of him if he 
only tries hard enough. 


-o- 

TRAVELER'S GUIDE. 

A woman who does not like to work and who does 
like to travel set her wits to work to discover how she 
might earn her living by doing that which pleased 
her. 

She made arrangements with the superintendents 



50 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


of different lines and with hotel keepers at the various 
places at which she wished to stop whereby they were 
to take care of a certain number of travelers at a cer¬ 
tain price. She always included herself in the list, 
but when she divided the price to be paid by the 
number of travelers to be accommodated she did not 
include herself. Thus each contributed to her jour¬ 
ney without realizing it, but in no other way were 
they required to pay for her services. She planned 
the route, acted as guide, which her many journeys 
abroad fitted her to do acceptably, and relieved the 
other travelers of all the petty annoyances. 

On her first trip she took a great many photo¬ 
graphs, which were afterward arranged for a stereop- 
ticon. She got a literary friend to help her write a 
descriptive talk of the trips; then, when she reached 
home she went around giving lectures with the ster- 
eopticon views. She made enough in this way to sup¬ 
port herself until it was time to start on another trip 
with another party. 

She has now taken five different parties into for¬ 
eign lands. Her lectures serve to interest many peo¬ 
ple, and make it easier to induce prospective trav¬ 
elers to agree to go with her. 

It requires an immense amount of energy to earn 
one’s living in this way, besides unlimited tact and 
the greatest of faith in one’s ability. It would not be 
wise for the ordinary woman to attempt it, but this 
may meet the eye of one who is fitted by nature for 
such a career and who has not yet realized it, and 
so it forms a part of this book. 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


51 


REMODELING HATS* 


A great many women are making a living by re¬ 
modeling hats. They understand how to press them 
into new shapes, sew them over, bleach and color 
them, and during the millinery season they are kept 
busier than the average milliner. One must serve an 
apprenticeship at this work before attempting to open 
a shop. She must also know how to dye feathers and 
recurl them, how to clean laces and how to rejuven¬ 
ate mussy velvets and ribbons. There are not so 
many of these establishments but room might be 
made for more, and the woman who is just fitted for 
such work need not hesitate to undertake it. 

- 0 - 


ARTIFICIAL FLOWERS* 


There are more than three thousand persons in the 
United States who are engaged in the making of arti¬ 
ficial flowers, a majority being women. And yet the 
work is not so overdone but there is a market for 
flowers that are exceptionally well made. 

One girl who supplies a large proportion of the 
flowers used in a wholesale millinery establishment 
never learned the trade of any professional. She had 
a natural aptitude for the work, and taught herself 
by picking the French artificial flowers to pieces and 





52 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


putting them together again. Now she uses natural 
flowers for her models, and her work is sold for “gen¬ 
uine French flowers.” She has exquisite taste and 
such deftness of touch that she can make many more 
flowers in a day than can the average girl. She never 
seems to have to try; her flowers simply grow under 
her fingers, and never have the “stiff” appearance 
that is characteristic of the flowers made by women 
who have to try the second time to get a leaf in place. 

This girl does her work in her own rooms. Her 
flowers are packed in boxes supplied by the wholesale 
house and so nicely labeled in French that they have 
the appearance of having been directly shipped from 
France. Indeed, they may have been, but the flowers 
are made in New York. 


STERILIZED MILK. 


Cow’s milk is quite generally considered the best 
substitute for mother’s milk, yet the mortality of in¬ 
fants artificially nourished proves that it is far from 
being satisfactory. Medicinal qualities contained in 
the food given the cow are liable to reappear in the 
milk and trouble the little one; then, again, milk 
undergoes a chemical change within a few hours after 
it is drawn, when it becomes really unfit for the child. 
As it is usually drawn but twice daily, it must be 
given at least twice during the twenty-four hours, 
when it has ceased to be good food. This fact has led 




HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


53 


to much experimenting by scientific men, and their 
results have brought about a new dairy industry that 
bids fair to be of interest to women from a financial 
point of view. 

There are few now who do not prefer milk that has 
been Pasteurized or sterilized as an article of diet for 
the bottle-fed baby, but it calls for great care and 
work, besides some knowledge of the results sought, 
and so the dairyman who advertises to furnish such 
milk, and who can give good references, is bound 
to have a patronage. It Is work preeminently suited 
to women, and it is hoped that it will, in the near 
future, furnish employment to a great many of them. 
While it is desirable that the woman who starts out 
to sell sterilized milk should have cows of her own, 
yet it is not absolutely necessary. She can purchase 
milk from some one near by, sterilize it and sell it 
for enough more to make a fair profit, and so make 
money until she can purchase cows of her own. 

Machinery can now be purchased by the use of 
which large quantities of milk can be sterilized with 
little labor, but of course it is not to be thought of 
until a good business has been worked up, for it is 
quite expensive. 

-o- 

\ 

THE WONDERFUL CUPBOARD. 


In a little village not many miles from Minneapolis 
there lives a woman with a wonderful cupboard. That 
cupboard is known all over the village, and the first 




54 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


thought of the woman who finds herself in need of 
something is, “I wonder if it might not be found in 
Mrs. Greene’s cupboard?” 

Mrs. Greene began her very good little business by 
taking an agency for some excellent salve and herb 
tea, put up by a well-advertised firm. Then she added 
some fine face powder, a highly recommended toilet 
cream and a wash that would remove sunburn. She 
divided the contents of boxes and bottles into smaller 
portions for the benefit of those who did not have 
money enough for the larger amount, and by charging 
a little extra for time and trouble made quite a nice 
profit. She obtained some first-class recipes and put 
up remedies of her own, giving preference to those re¬ 
quiring considerable work, knowing that there were 
many women who would rather buy than make them. 

After a time scraps of silk and ribbon were added 
to her trade, and as it was the time when crazy 
patchwork was the fad, she had many customers who 
wanted just a little of some particular color to make 
out a block. The scraps were bought of a house in 
the East, who made them up into bundles of different 
sizes and values. These led, naturally, to laying in a 
small stock of material for fancy work, and as she 
was always willing to sell in small quantities, even 
to half a yard of embroidery silk, she was soon pat¬ 
ronized by many women who would not have become 
used to going to her for such things had they not 
wanted a little of something of which they did not 
care to have any left over. 

Perfumes, writing material, thread, dress facings, 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


55 


etc., etc., have gradually been added to the stock in 
trade, until now the cupboard, although kept in the 
best of order, is full almost to overflowing. A nice 
little sum is thereby obtained, and, although her 
housework has changed in character because of the 
added work of waiting upon customers, Mrs. Greene 
feels that she is kept enough brighter and happier, 
by seeing so many more people than she would other¬ 
wise see, to more than make good the time taken from 
scrubbing floors and making pies. 

She is only an ordinary woman, and what she has 
done may be done by any one who will study the 
wants of the community in which she lives. Her 
only method of advertising was to let her neighbors 
know that she had something to sell. 


- 0 - 

INTELLIGENCE OFFICE. 


A woman who is daily occupied in her own home 
and who has an average amount of knowledge 
of accounts might open there an intelligence of¬ 
fice for domestic help. There are already a large 
number of such offices, and in order to make hers suc¬ 
cessful she should make it distinctive by advertising 
it as an office only for girls with recommendations. 
That point should be emphasized, and the rules made 
relative to it should be lived up to with great strict¬ 
ness. If the woman managing the business were a 



56 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


first-class housekeeper and could so arrange it, she 
might have, in conjunction with this office, a training 
school for girls. If her house were large enough so 
that she could allow girls from the country, or girls 
in the city who have no homes, to board with her 
until a place could be found, she would then feel as if 
she were doing some real good in the world besides 
earning her bread and butter. Fair accommodations 
could be provided for these girls at reasonable rates, 
more especially if enough of them were allowed to 
work for their board to make hired help unnecessary. 
Such an intelligence office would not pay well just at 
first; you must expect it to grow slowly, but if you 
work for a name more than for money you will find 
that it will pay you in the long run. The office should 
be so kept that girls would take pride in being sent 
from it, and would consider themselves lowered if 
forced to seek positions at ordinary intelligence of¬ 
fices, and mistresses should learn by experience that 
the help you furnish is seldom unreliable. 

-o- 


PINEAPPLES* 


A Northern woman whose physician had advised 
her to look for a home in the South, and who was de¬ 
pendent on her own resources, found a family in Flor¬ 
ida who agreed to let her work for her board in their 
home while she was learning the ways of Southern 




HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


57 


people. This family raised pineapples for a living, 
and our Northern friend had not lived with them a 
great while before she decided that she, too, could 
make her living by raising pineapples. Her employer 
had for many years kept strict account of all his 
transactions, and when she asked him how much 
capital she would need for a beginning he replied: 

“You’ll need at least one acre of land. That, in a 
good locality, will cost about a hundred dollars. It 
will cost fifty more to get it ready for cultivation, 
thirty for slips and about thirteen and a half to get 
them set. They will not bear for two years, during 
which time you will have to pay about fifty dollars 
for fertilizing the plants and twenty-five for cultivat¬ 
ing them. The total cost will be about two hundred 
and forty-four dollars. When they begin to bear it 
will cost about twenty dollars for crates, picking, 
packing and marketing. You ought to have one hun¬ 
dred and fifty crates, and they should bring you a 
dollar and a quarter per crate, net. Your acre will 
bear for five years without renewal, and, although as 
much must be spent each year in fertilizing, it will 
cost less for work after the first year.” 

The lady decided to make the investment, more es¬ 
pecially as she could get an acre of ground near by, 
and was still at liberty to work for her board. She 
saved a little by doing a part of the work herself. 
She sold the slips from her pines, and they brought in 
a little that helped. Her friend had been conservative 
in his estimates, and she realized more than he had 
predicted. She bought another acre of land and set 


58 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


it out to slips taken from her own pines, and the fol¬ 
lowing year she bought a third acre, which was also 
set to pines. She thus had her groves so arranged 
that they would not need resetting at the same time. 
She now owns ten acres, which is as much as she can 
superintend, and is laying a nice little sum aside for 
the proverbial rainy day. Of course this could not 
have been accomplished without hard work, but now 
she takes life easily, and she has been in the South 
only a little more than eleven years. She showed 
her good judgment at the very beginning by living in 
the South long enough to become acquainted before 
attempting anything instead of rushing in blindly, as 
Northerners are too apt to do. 


NURSES' BUREAU, 


A good employment for a woman in her own home 
is that of carrying on a nurses’ bureau. This occu¬ 
pation would not serve to furnish a livelihood from 
the beginning, but with a small outlay of time and 
money it would help to increase the family income. 
The first step necessary would be to obtain the names 
and addresses of good nurses. You can get them 
from physicians, from hospitals, from city directories 
and from friends and acquaintances. Next get per¬ 
mission from these nurses to place their names upon 
your list, with the amount of wages they ask per 




HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


59 


week and tell them what commission you would ex¬ 
pect for securing them positions. If they will not 
agree to pay this commission you will, of course, 
strike their names from your list. Each nurse is then 
to furnish you with her address and to keep you in¬ 
formed of all her engagements, so that you may know 
at any time whether she is engaged or free, and where 
she may be found. When your list is long enough 
for a fair beginning advertise in the papers, send 
notices to the doctors and the hospitals and wherever 
else it occurs to you that there may arise a demand 
for such services. Keep a standing advertisement in 
some good paper to the effect that competent nurses 
may be obtained through you at any time. You must 
have telephone connections at your own home so 
that you may be reached without a moment’s loss of 
time. If your home is large enough, it will pay you 
to take a few nurses to board, so as always to have 
some near at hand, and nurses will also find it to 
their advantage to make your house their home. In 
case you do not own a home, but rent, it will be wise 
to rent a house large enough for this purpose. 


■ -0 

PLAYHOUSE FOR CHILDREN. 


A girl of sixteen wished to earn money for herself, 
and was not allowed to leave home for that purpose. 
Her parents had begun building quite a large house, 




60 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


but had not been able to finish the double parlors. 
The girl obtained permission to use these rooms, and 
then she let it be known among her friends and 
neighbors that, whenever they wished to go calling 
or to get rid of the care of their children for a short 
time, she would make it her business to care for 
them for a small remuneration. She found many 
mothers in well-to-do circumstances who preferred 
doing their own work to hiring help, and who were 
very glad to be relieved of the anxiety of attending to 
their housework and watching the babies at the same 
time, who were glad to become her patrons. Aside 
from caring for the children at a fixed rate per hour, 
she added materially to her income by staying with 
them at their homes during the evening when their 
parents wished to go away. It is only by some such 
means that a great many parents can enjoy an eve¬ 
ning away from home together, and if they could 
know of some competent person whom they could 
hire to care for their children many would gladly pay 
the sum charged. To do this work successfully, one 
must have a real love for children and a genius for 
entertaining them. A girl who uses slang or dresses 
carelessly or does anything that may be looked upon 
as a bad example for children to follow should never 
undertake this work, for most mothers will be loath 
to patronize her. A girl who is ladylike and who has 
a good influence over children will not be long in 
building up a paying business. 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


61 


LINEN LAUNDRIES* 


There are many housekeepers who would rather 
pay to have their doilies, lunch cloths and similar 
pieces laundered than to do the work themselves. It 
is work which any woman who can wash and iron 
carefully and well can undertake, if she have time 
and strength. If she gives her whole attention to it, 
it is not such a source of worry and annoyance as it 
becomes when undertaken by the woman who has a 
thousand and one other things to consider. There are 
few housekeepers who like to trust such washing to 
the hands of the ordinary washwoman or domestic 
or to the laundry. Since many of these pieces of 
table linen are embroidered in colors, the first thing 
to learn is how to “set” these colors successfully by 
means which will not injure the fabric. Another im¬ 
portant item is the best method for removing stains 
which are often found on fine table linen, and which 
must be carefully and thoroughly removed before 
washing. Then one must know how to iron so as to 
raise all the embroidery, making it appear rich and 
heavy, and without tearing the finer embroideries or 
the hemstitched pieces. Most housekeepers like the 
idea of sending their table linen where it is not in 
danger of being washed with other articles. This 
work is not as heavy as ordinary laundry work, but 
it requires a great deal more care, and commands a 
better price in consequence. One woman at least has 
been known to succeed with this sort of employment. 


62 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


She now superintends her laundry, which is by no 
means an insignificant one, and employs a forewoman 
and a large force of girls. She has added fine laces, 
curtains and tidies to the list of articles she launders* 
but nothing else is undertaken. 


VEGETABLES* 

If you are so situated as to be able to raise vege¬ 
tables for market you have a means by which you 
may earn more or less money every summer, the 
amount, of course, depending upon the season as well 
as upon your market. 

It is said by women who have tried it that much 
more money may be made by peddling the vegetables 
from house to house than by disposing of them to 
other dealers, and that this part of the work is really 
not so disagreeable as one is inclined to imagine. It 
is no more demeaning to sell vegetables directly to 
the customer than it is to trade them off to a mer¬ 
chant, and when you have built up a little trade you 
will find many among your customers whom it will 
be a pleasure to meet each week. Most housewives 
are glad of an opportunity to get vegetables right 
from the farmer’s wagon, so you need not feel, when 
people buy of you, that they are conferring any 
greater favor upon you than you are upon them. As 
a rule, they who sell directly from the wagon get 
nearly, if not quite, as high a price for their wares 



HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


63 


as grocers ask, while if they sell to grocers, they can¬ 
not expect to- get much more than half the amount. 
This is right, too, although many gardeners grumble 
about it; but they should remember that the grocer 
takes all the chances of the goods spoiling on his 
hands before he can dispose of them. If you want to 
get what you think your wares are worth peddle them 
yourself, and instead of taking goods in exchange 
take cash and then spend it for what you want. You 
will be much better satisfied with the result. 

If you can manage to have good vegetables a little 
earlier and a little later in the season than other 
people do, you can sell them more quickly and at a 
better price. 

One woman gardener always manages to have green 
peas in August, and her regular customers are greatly 
disappointed when one gets all the peas and another 
can purchase none. She also has fine green corn 
when it is impossible to get it at the grocery stores, 
and it must be fun for her to peddle it, because it goes 
so fast. 

She always has her garden made ready in the fall, 
then during the winter a coating of manure is spread 
over it. This is removed as soon as the snow begins 
to melt in the spring, and when the top of the ground 
can be worked she begins to plant onions, peas, tur¬ 
nips, radishes, lettuce and such vegetables as stand 
light frosts. The turnips are planted especially for 
greens, for which she finds a ready market, as they 
are not only palatable, but extremely good for one’s 
physical health in the spring. 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


64 


Some of her vegetable seeds are sown in window 
boxes while the snow is deep on the ground. She has 
a number of hotbeds, but plants get a good start in 
these window boxes before a hotbed can be used to ad¬ 
vantage, and she makes money early in the spring by 
selling nice, thrifty plants. She has several south 
windows in her house, and each has a number of 
these boxes arranged one over another like shelves. 
There is, besides, a large flower stand covered with 
pots, in which her growing vegetables are transplant¬ 
ed as necessary. They are not as ornamental as 
flowers would be, but she says they pay better, and 
she must earn her bread and butter. 

The soil for these window boxes is prepared in the 
fall and stored in a large bin in one corner of the 
cellar, which she had built for that especial purpose. 
The soil in her hotbeds is also made ready in the 
fall, in so far as that is possible. Tin cans are used 
in transplanting to save expense, and the thumb pots 
are of heavy paper. She makes them herself. The 
paper is covered with a sort of sizing that makes it 
durable, and the pots, when made, are filled with dirt 
and -placed close together in a long zinc pan that 
looks like a baking pan. 

All of her plants are kept out of doors for at least 
a week before they are transplanted, in order that 
they may be properly toughened by exposure, and so 
she loses very few of them. 

When she sets out her earliest tomatoes she piles 
manure from the barnyard about them, not allowing 
it to touch the plant, but building it up at a little 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


65 


distance all around it like a barricade. This tends to 
keep the plant warm. She also has two dozen frames 
with glass tops which she sets over them, and she 
has early tomatoes to sell when prices are high. She 
says she gets more money from the two dozen plants 
thus cared for than from the five dozen set out later 
in the season. 

Another secret of her success lies in the care she 
gives her vegetables when getting them ready for 
market. Everything is clean and wholesome and 
tempting. She does not try to make a little good 
stuff sell a great deal that is poor. Whatever she has 
speaks for itself, and she does not try to persuade 
people to buy, knowing that if they want anything 
of the sort at all they will surely want hers. 


SOFT SOAP MAKING* 


There are women who earn quite a little pin money 
by making soft soap. Of course they live on farms 
and so get almost for nothing what would make the 
article too expensive if attempted by women living in 
towns. On butchering days they save a large amount 
of grease from the intestines of the hogs that is quite 
apt to be wasted on farms, yet which is excellent for 
soap-making purposes. They also have receptacles! 
in which they place the grease obtained by boiling 
refuse scraps of meat, skin and bones and skimming 



65 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


the water when it has become cold enough to allow 
the grease to come to the top. 

Hardwood ashes are best for soap-making, and so 
the woman who undertakes to make soap for sale 
should live where she can burn hardwood, at least 
during the winter months. 

The implements necessary to the making of soft 
soap are neither many nor expensive. Make a square 
support about a foot high on one side and about two 
feet high on the other. Nail a floor to this; then 
fasten a hogshead to the floor. Put a layer of clean 
straw in the hogshead, then throw in the ashes as 
they accumulate, but be careful to have them clean. 
Some women think it does not matter whether they 
are clean or not, since they are only to be used for 
soap, but such women never make a first-class article. 
Have a tight-fitting cover on the hogshead, to keep 
out dirt, flying leaves, etc. 

When the barrel is full of ashes that have been well 
packed with a mallet, dig a hole in the center and 
pour in a pailful of boiling soft water. Add more 
water as necessary. When the lye has run off put it 
in a kettle over a steady fire and add grease, which, 
like the ashes, must be very clean. An old rule is to 
add grease until the lye will not eat a feather. Boil 
the grease and lye until it is thoroughly mixed, then 
pour it into your barrel, and be sure to stir it every 
day for a week. When done it should be of a beau¬ 
tiful pale yellow, so thick that it will scarcely fall 
from an inverted bowl, yet smooth and jelly-like in 
consistency. 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


67 


One woman who earns pin money by selling her 
soap brings it to her customers in gallon crocks, and 
always takes home the empty crocks when furnishing 
a new supply of soap. Her customers say, “It looks 
good enough to eat.” She is as particular about mak¬ 
ing her soap as she is about her jelly, for she says it 
is as easily discolored. Her customers appreciate her 
cleanliness, and always prefer her soap, especially for 
washing anything that is used about cooking, to that 
of any manufacturer whose methods they do not 
know. 

-o- 


VISITING CHAMBERMAIDS* 


Two young girls who did not like to hire out by 
the week conceived the idea of taking contracts to 
do chamberwork at a certain price per week. They 
applied for work in the hotels and boarding houses 
near their homes, and soon had as many rooms on 
their list as they could care for properly. They had 
regular hours at which they appeared at each house, 
and as they worked together, they soon left every¬ 
thing in good order. They felt that they had to make 
a name for extra good work and then to keep it, and 
they never gave cause for complaint. Many of the 
mistresses of boarding houses said that the visiting 
chambermaids enabled them to get along with one 
less girl, and that the work was done more satis¬ 
factorily than it ever was dene before. 



68 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


The girls always had the afternoons to themselves, 
except on occasional days, v, r hen they were obliged 
to do a little sweeping in some of their larger houses. 
They earned five dollars a week apiece. It was no 
more than they would have earned had they hired 
out by the week, where their board would have been 
thrown in, but they liked, this way of working, be¬ 
cause it enabled them to remain at home a larger part 
of the time. 

-o- 


CARD WRITING* 


One frequently sees men sitting at a table on a 
■street corner, and they nearly always have employ¬ 
ment, provided they write nicely. This fact was ob¬ 
served by a young girl who had lost her position and 
could not expect to get work in the same line at least 
for several months. She had a pretty gypsy suit that 
she made to wear at a church entertainment, and, 
after obtaining permission to place her table near the 
door of one of the largest department stores, she 
bought a supply of cards, pens and ink, donned her 
gypsy suit and went to work. Her suit was exceed¬ 
ingly becoming, and served to attract attention. She 
was a fine penman, and had a happy knack for pen 
drawing that sometimes served to amuse the crowd 
that gathered around her. Then she conceived the 
idea of tying half a dozen cards containing these 
drawings into little booklets, the purchaser being al- 




HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


69 


lowed to make a choice of the drawings for his book. 
She then wrote his name on the cover card, and it 
was finished. She sold a number of these book¬ 
lets, and, with the cards she wrote, was soon earning 
more than she had received in her own place of em¬ 
ployment. She purchased cards by the quantity and 
sold them at retail prices, and she kept a fine assort¬ 
ment from which to choose. 

It would be unsafe for many girls to attempt this 
method of money-making, for they would be liable to 
be talked to in an insulting manner by a certain clas3 
of men. But this girl had a fine dignity of her own, 
and even in the most difficult situations was quite ca¬ 
pable of taking care of herself, and compelling the 
respect of every one who spoke to her. 

- 0 - 

HOT COOKIES* 


A woman who lived downtown and who made ex¬ 
ceptionally fine cookies conceived the idea of baking 
them and selling them while hot. She knew that there 
are few who can resist the temptation of eating hot 
cookies, if made by one who understands the art, and 
who cannot be induced to use poor butter. She had 
several children who hurried to the offices with their 
baskets of hot cookies, well covered, to keep them 
hot, and they sold readily at prices charged in stores 
and bakeries. She found that they sold best between 
the hours of eleven in the morning and five at night. 




70 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


There was a large, high school building near by, and 
she found many customers there. While her children 
were going to school she made arrangements with a 
young lady who was out of work and who was glad 
to sell her cookies on commission. 


NEWS STANDS. 


Why is it that most of the news stands are owned 
by men, when there are few employments better suit¬ 
ed to women? Is it not because women fail to avail 
themselves of their opportunities? News stands are 
fairly profitable, else men would have nothing to do 
with them. 

A young woman whose father died leaving a mother 
and several brothers and sisters for her to support de¬ 
cided to open a news stand, since there was nothing 
else she could do better. In addition to her periodi¬ 
cals, she carries a fine line of stationery, and she is 
supporting her family comfortably. She had once 
helped a friend who had a news stand during the hol¬ 
iday rush, when stationery sells well, and the knowl¬ 
edge and experience gained during that month were 
all she had when she decided to begin business for 
herself, but she has independence of spirit, pluck, 
energy and a natural taste for business, and so she is 
succeeding. 




HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 71 

HOLIDAY GIFTS* 


Three girls who longed for a little money for a 
special purpose spent most of their spare time for a 
year in making all sorts of articles both useful and 
ornamental. Nothing was thrown away during the 
year that could possibly be made into something at¬ 
tractive. 

Just before the holidays they rented a room for a 
month and proceeded to so arrange their goods as to 
show them off to the best advantage, and then they 
did a little advertising. They had dainty hemstitched 
handkerchiefs, pretty crocketted hoods, comfortable 
knitted slippers for bedroom wear, embroidered cen¬ 
ter-pieces, cushions of every size and shape conceiv¬ 
able, dolls made of corncobs and nice, comfortable 
darky dollies of rags—in fact, they had such a va¬ 
riety of articles and all so nicely made that any one 
who entered their room was sure to purchase a nice 
holiday gift for some friend before leaving. 

The girls said that the material they used had all 
been purchased a little at a time, with money that 
would otherwise have been spent in some trifling man¬ 
ner, and they really had not missed it at all. Then 
they had utilized many bits of silk and lace that had 
been accumulating for years, and every walk or drive 
into the country had resulted in an addition to their 
store. Their little baskets of spruce gum sold at 
once, and so did their pillows made of pine and fir and 
their cushions filled with the cotton from the milk- 



72 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


weed. They could have sold twice the number of rag 
dolls, and every pair of knitted slippers were taken 
almost immediately. They realized enough from 
their year’s work to take the little trip they had 
planned, and they really had not spent so much of 
their time in doing fancy work as to have it com¬ 
mented upon by their acquaintances. 

They were girls who were not allowed to go away 
from home to earn money, but they had found a way 
to earn a little without doing so. 

It resulted in their taking several of their friends 
into partnership and hiring a girl who made corsets 
for a living to act as their saleswoman. She was 
obliged to have an office downtown any way, and was 
glad of this opportunity to help pay rent. 

While the girls did not make a great deal, they 
were enabled to earn a little in a pleasant way and 
yet stay at home. 


BEDDING* 


The woman who can make nice bedding and who 
knows how to work to the greatest advantage has a 
means of making money that is not usually taken into 
consideration. 

One who decides to undertake this work should 
advertise among friends and acquaintances that sho 
is willing to make bedding to order, to renovate it 
or to sell from her stock on hand. If she has a little 



HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


73 


money for the purpose, she might also advertise in 
the home papers and request those who are preparing 
wedding outfits to call upon her. She should have a 
stock for display embracing quilts of different de¬ 
signs, comforters of different thicknesses and cotton 
mattresses to go beneath the lower sheet, besides en¬ 
tire outfits for babies’ beds. When one from her stock 
is sold it should be replaced as soon as possible with 
something similar. She should haunt bargain coun¬ 
ters and opening sales, and never purchase anything 
for her quilts unless she can get it at a bargain, and 
when once she is started in her business she will find 
it to her advantage to keep a supply of material on 
hand from which her customers may make a choice. 
She will find many who will prefer to buy from her 
stock of goods rather than go to stores to make their 
purchases. Of course she will sell at the regular 
price—not the bargain price at which she secured it. 
She will also arrange to buy cotton batting in large 
quantities, so as to get a discount on it, and thread 
and tying yarn must be purchased in the same way. 

There are many women who possess nice quilts that 
require care in renovating, or those for which they 
have an affection, although they may not be at all 
valuable, and many times they would be glad to have 
them made clean and whole. It is not easy work to 
renovate comforters, but some do it much more easily 
than others, simply because they know how. The 
woman who hopes to earn money in this way without 
working herself to death must know how. 


74 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


MITTENS* 


There is a dear old grandmother who makes her 
pin money by selling mittens of her own manufac¬ 
ture. She knits them of silk and worsted and coarse, 
warm yarn. They are fancy and plain, large and 
small, in sombre black or in pretty colors that take 
the eye of the child. Some have dainty bows of rib¬ 
bon on the wrist; others are large and thick, and 
covered with leather. One can get any sort of mitten 
he may fancy by applying to her, or he may get his 
old mittens repaired at a reasonable rate. The grand¬ 
mother likes to do this work, which is really the 
only kind of work she can do now, and although she 
does not get very high pay for it, what she does get 
is all her own and adds greatly to her happiness. 

-o- 


PIANO TUNING* 


Of late years it is being discovered that women are 
as well if not better fitted for tuning pianos than 
men, having more sensitive ears. In most places a 
charge of two dollars is made for tuning a piano. 
Many people make contracts by the year whereby 
they get their pianos tuned four times a year for six 
dollars. When a piano is used a great deal by stu¬ 
dents it needs repairing as often as four times a year, 
and when one multiplies the number of musical in- 





HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


75 


struments in use in a city, even by two, he is apt to 
be startled by the magnitude of the sum of money 
paid the professional piano-tuner. 

One who thinks of taking up this work must man¬ 
age to serve an apprenticeship in a large music house, 
even if she is obliged to give her time, and then she 
must be on good terms with the tuner employed there. 
She must learn how to put all manner of instruments 
in tune. When she starts out for herself she will, 
most likely, be obliged to solicit work by going from 
house to house, but at least one girl has proven that 
a good living may be earned in that way. 

- 0 - 


HOMEKEEPER’S AGENCY. 


Not many years ago a lady who had gone from her 
father’s house straight to that of her husband was 
left a widow in comparatively destitute circumstances. 
She had passed her fortieth birthday and realized that 
it would be difficult to take up any of the branches of 
labor by which younger women were enabled to earn 
a livelihood; yet she must do something, and it must 
pertain to housekeeping, for that was the only branch 
of labor in which she had any practical knowledge. 
The thought that led to the “Homekeeper’s Agency” 
came to her one day when a friend chanced to say 
that she wished she knew of a woman who could 
make and drape curtains. This lady did know of one, 



76 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


and believed she could be hired, although she had 
never sought such employment. 

“How much will you give me if I get you a good, 
reliable woman who can do the work artistically?” 
she asked. 

“Half a dollar,” was the prompt reply. 

“I’ll undertake it,” she said, with equal promptness. 

That set her to thinking of the vast number of 
women there were like that woman whom she meant 
to try to engage, who could do some one thing beauti¬ 
fully, but did not know how to make their one ability 
help them financially. 

“And there would be just as many who would be 
glad to pay for their help,” she exclaimed, as her 
idea matured, “and I’ll bring them together!” 

She spent some time in looking up women who 
could do things well, then she had circulars printed, 
which she sent to the women who could afford to hire 
things done. They read as follows: 

DO YOU WANT ASSISTANCE IN 

Mending and washing laces? 

Hanging your draperies? 

Selecting furniture? 

Arranging your rooms artistically? 

Remodeling your gowns? 

Doing your millinery at home? 

Cleaning your upholstered furniture? 

Covering your worn chairs? 

Preparing for your reception? 

Caring for your teething baby? 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


77 


Writing your club essay? 

Putting up your fruit? 

Coaching your boy for examination? 

Teaching your daughter social observances? 
COMPETENT, LADY-LIKE HELP FURNISHED BY 
THE DAY OR HOUR BY 
THE HOMEKEEPER’S AGENCY. 

It was some time before all the women to whom she 
had spoken were given steady employment, but per¬ 
sistence in advertising and in sending out the cir¬ 
culars and careful supervision of all work obtained 
had its effect in due time. Now a great many women 
are employed regularly, and many more stand ready 
to take the orders that cannot be undertaken by the 
regular force. 

The regular help is paid by the week. They come to 
the agency—the home of the agent—in the morning 
and remain there during the day except when sent 
out on an order. Their pay goes on whether they 
work or not. When they work the agent receives the 
pay, which averages about fifty cents an hour on 
short jobs. 

To succeed in this business one must know when 
the work to be undertaken is well done. She 
may not be able to do it well herself, but she must 
not be deceived as to the quantity or quality of work 
done by one of her employes in a given length of 
time. She must be able to direct other women and 
to inspire their confidence. She must be business¬ 
like and thorough, and she must drop in upon her 


78 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


employes while at work often enough to make them 
feel that she may be expected at any time, and that 
carelessness on their part will not be overlooked. 

This is a business that cannot be built up in a 
day, but there is a good field in every large city for 
the right kind of a woman. 


- 0 - 

SWINE RAISING* 


A Nebraska woman has made quite a reputation for 
herself as a breeder of fine Poland China hogs. Her 
judgment is held in high esteem among men engaged 
in the business, and people come from long distances 
to her annual sales. 

It only proves what many women do not yet realize 
—that many of the employments now monopolized by 
men offer good opportunities to women of pluck and 
energy. 

The woman who lives on a farm may find a nice 
little competence in the raising of swine, if she only 
cares to undertake the work. She will be more sure 
of success if she begins with one or two hogs and 
works up as she earns money for finer buildings and 
finer breeds. Journals devoted to this line of indus¬ 
try are to be had, and much practical information 
may be obtained from the best agricultural papers. 

One farmer’s wife who has made an agreement 
with her husband whereby the hog-raising has 




HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


79 


become her part of the work, buys the feed 
used of her husband, and hires the hogs butch¬ 
ered and marketed; yet last year she cleared a 
hundred and fifty dollars, and she said she had 
given less time to the work than many women 
spend over their embroidery. She says she finds it 
easier to raise hogs and buy her embroidery of 
women who prefer ladylike employment to that 
which brings a good price, but is not one of the avo¬ 
cations usually pursued by women. 

This woman takes orders for pork and lard among 
the working class in a neighboring city, agreeing to 
deliver the goods on a certain day at a certain price, 
and it pays her much better than to sell her hogs in 
the neighboring markets. She manages to have small 
pigs about the holiday season, which nearly always 
sell well, and she has a good demand for live hogs 
during the spring. She keeps a book account of all 
transactions, and knows, to a penny, how much she 
makes or loses. Of course there are years when she 
gets little for her work, but, taking one year with 
another, she says she makes more than she did when 
a girl teaching school and' with less work and worry. 

-o- 

CARING FOR HOTEL CHILDREN. 


An enterprising school teacher spends her vacations 
at a fashionable summer hotel in the mountains, and 
is criticised for her seeming extravagance by some 




80 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


of her acquaintances who are not in her confidence. 
She had stopped at that hotel for a day or two sev¬ 
eral years ago and had noticed how neglected were 
the children of those guests at the hotel who could 
not afford to bring governesses. So she resolved to 
return and offer to take charge of the children for a 
certain length of time each day for a small sum per 
hour. She amuses the children, takes them into the 
woods for little picnic dinners, guides them in their 
various amusements and keeps them entirely away 
from their elders during the time they are under her 
care. The children are delighted, and she has 
enough of them to care for to more than pay her ex¬ 
penses during her vacation. 


PROFESSIONAL DUSTER* 


Already a number of women, intent on money¬ 
making, have assumed this title, with all that it im¬ 
plies; but the field is not yet crowded. 

The professional duster must be neat in attire and 
business-like in manner. She will carry a hand- 
satchel filled with a fine array of dusters, and she will 
have regular appointments at houses whose owners 
have a bric-a-brac that is too precious to he entrusted 
to the ordinary servant. She will dust everything 
carefully, put it in place, see that curtains and scarfs 
are gracefully draped, and when everything is in 
order will hurry away to fill her next appointment. 



HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


81 


The nature of the work makes it impossible for her 
to make many engagements, because most housekeep¬ 
ers want their sweeping done on Friday, and the dust¬ 
ing cannot be long delayed; but as she has a home of 
her own to care for, it is really as much as she cares 
to do, and it gives her a little pin money all her own. 

-o- 


STORY-TELLING* 


A young lady who was not strong enough to do 
hard work conceived the idea of earning money by 
telling stories to children. She had a natural talent 
in that direction, and a little rehearsal each day soon 
brought back the natural training in elocution that 
she had had while at school. 

She read stories and then repeated them in lan¬ 
guage that children could understand. Each even¬ 
ing she told one story of adventure, one of history 
and one based on ethical laws. Frequently this was 
followed by a fairy story, and, to send her audience 
home feeling as if they must come again, she often 
announced that it would be finished in the next eve¬ 
ning. She got the teachers in the different schools to 
announce her intention to tell stories to children, and 
from the first she had a good audience. As she 
charged but five cents admission and only kept the 
children between the hours of eight and nine, parents 
allowed their little folks to attend frequently. She 




82 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


told stories three evenings in the week, and averaged 
two dollars per evening after paying for hall, lights 
and heat, and also for the services of the young lady 
who sold tickets of admission. It was not a large 
sum, but she could not have earned as much in any 
other way, and it really required but a small portion 
of her time. 

- 0 - 

ETIQUETTE AND DANCING. 


A young lady who had been a leader in society was 
suddenly thrown upon her own resources for a live¬ 
lihood and after a careful review of her accomplish¬ 
ments decided to earn her own living by means of 
those which had hitherto brought to her the praises 
of her acquaintances. She sent out circulars an¬ 
nouncing that she would start a class in dancing on 
a certain evening, and that classes in deportment 
would also be conducted. Her name was so well 
known that she had no difficulty in securing pupils, 
for many mothers who did not believe in dancing 
were glad of the opportunity to give their daughters 
the benefit of the instruction in social laws and cus¬ 
toms from so competent a teacher. 

She also gave private lessons and had many pupils 
whose wealth gave them a place in society, but whose 
early advantages had been meagre. 

An acquaintance with this class of people led to 
another opportunity for making money—that of the 




HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


83 


supervision of the entertainments they gave. She 
would take entire charge for a specified sum per eve- 
ping, which was willingly paid hy women who wanted 
their entertainments to be in good style, and were 
not sure that they knew just how to make them so. 

-o- 


UNDERWEAR* 


A lady and her daughter living in a busy Western 
city earn their bread and butter by making under¬ 
wear for women and children and nightshirts for men 
and boys. A number of their acquaintances predicted 
they could not succeed because ready-made clothing 
could be made so cheaply at department stores, but 
they believed there were many ladies who loved 
dainty underwear, and were able to afford it, who 
would be glad to have theirs finished more neatly 
than any they could purchase ready made. They 
were right, as their increasing orders have proven. 
They thoroughly understand cutting and fitting, and 
take as much pains with the fit of the garments they 
make as they would if making a dress. They charge 
a good price for their work, but their customers are 
all from the wealthy class, who are able and willing 
to pay well for that which exactly suits them. 

This enterprising mother and daughter now employ 
several assistants—one to make knitted lace, one who 
furnishes crochetted trimming in dainty patterns, a 



84 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


third who is noted for the beautiful buttonholes she 
makes, and a fourth who does fine embroidery. There 
are, besides, two girls who run the sewing machines, 
and one who does hand finishing. The mother and 
daughter take orders, wait upon customers and attend 
to the cutting and fitting. The work is done in their 
own home, and they are so busy that they have no 
time to grieve over the past, when they entertained 
handsomely in the parlors now devoted to their busi¬ 
ness. 

- 0 - 


POULTRY RAISING. 

“If I were consulted as to the best work for a 
woman who has only part of her time to give to it— 
something which can be carried on successfully both 
in country and town—that will give the most pleasure 
and profit for the least expenditure and time, I should 
say, ‘By all means, let her engage in poultry rais¬ 
ing.’ ” 

The above statement is quoted from one who has 
tried different methods of money making, and who 
finally became a successful poultry raiser. 

When we consider that the United States does not 
produce nearly as many eggs as are consumed by its 
people, it will be readily seen that poultry raising as 
an industry is not overdone, and that it offers an 
opportunity for women who must support themselves. 
But a small outlay of money is actually necessary for 



HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


85 


a start, although, of course, with a little capital judi¬ 
ciously invested one may have larger profits and 
lighter work. 

In making a start it is wise to purchase fowls in 
the autumn, when they are cheapest, and when any 
reliable dealer will sell you a good flock at compara¬ 
tively small cost rather than take the chances of 
being forced to keep them through the winter. Twen¬ 
ty hens and two cocks will be found a good number 
with which to experiment. They are not too many to 
be kept in one shed, and may be as easily cared for 
as a much smaller number. The shed should have 
windows facing the south and east, and should be 
well ventilated and reasonably warm. It should be 
provided with roosts made of poles or boards not less 
than two inches in width, and, in addition to com¬ 
fortable nests, there should be a box of dust and ashes 
for them to roll in and plenty of good, clover hay or 
unthreshed wheat straw in which they may be kept 
busy scratching. If you have not capital enough to 
provide a shed of this sort, better not go into the 
business at all until you have. 

Before purchasing your stock you should decide 
whether you mean to have eggs or chickens for the 
market. Of course this must depend, in a large de¬ 
gree, upon your location. If you are near a good mar¬ 
ket you will probably find that broilers and young 
chickens will pay best. If a long distance away you 
will probably do best to sell eggs, provided you learn 
how to pack them so that they will keep fresh a long 
time. All fowls do not do equally well in any climate. 


86 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


and you would best select your first flock from one 
not many miles away from your own home that you 
know have done well. If you wish early chickens you 
will find the light Brahmas or the' Plymouth Rocks 
quite satisfactory; if you wish to sell eggs the Wyan- 
dottes are unexcelled. You must, of course, subscribe 
for some good poultry journal, and after you have 
been in the business a short time you will begin to 
have ideas of your own on the subject, and will prob¬ 
ably change your flock more than once before you 
are entirely satisfied. 

Women are natural poultry raisers, being better 
economists than men, and when we remember that 
the profits of poultry raising depend on good judg¬ 
ment and close calculation in small things, it is easy 
to see why, as a rule, they succeed better than men. 

One who follows the plan of- selling the eggs and 
poultry just when money is scarce, or when he hap¬ 
pens to be going to town, will never realize much 
from his work. It is better to wait for good prices, 
then send both chicks and eggs to market in such a 
way that they give evidence of the best care. One 
must work not only for the best present price, but for 
a reputation that will insure a good price at times 
when others get a small one. 

It is not a good plan to depend simply on hens. Try 
raising ducks, geese and turkeys also, for often when 
the market is dull in one line it is good in another. 
In all cities there is now a market for down for filling 
cushions and comforters, and they who keep ducks 
and geese may add considerably to their profits by 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


87 


keeping the down separate from the feathers when 
dressing their birds for market. Some women make 
quite a little by saving nice tail feathers and pretty 
wings, which they sell for dusters and for millinery 
purposes. The plumage of the white goose readily 
takes dye of any color, and one may add greatly to 
the results of the year’s work by saving it to sell to 
those who make feather trimming, or they may make 
it into feather trimming themselves. A gentleman 
once took a lady to task for wearing a bird on her 
hat, and was greatly astonished to learn that she had 
made the entire bird from the feathers of the white 
goose, and had, beside, manufactured a large case 
full that she had sold at a good profit to a milliner in 
an adjoining city. Another woman has made quite a 
sum of money making boas from the feathers of her 
poultry. So you see there are a number of ways in 
which one may make money from poultry, in addi¬ 
tion to selling the eggs and chickens. 

Even if one has capital enough to furnish a large 
poultry yard it is not wise to do so unless she has had 
some experience in the business. Better save her 
money until she is sure what she wants. In any case 
she should keep out of debt and avoid the purchase 
of high-priced incubators and such things until she 
has the experience which will enable her to make a 
wise selection. 

There is no part of the work that is too heavy or 
hard for a woman to undertake, although there will 
be found many tasks that are not entirely agreeable. 


88 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


CLEANING OFFICES* 

More money is to be made cleaning stores and of¬ 
fices than by working out by the week, and although 
this is not one of the pleasantest of occupations, it 
yet furnishes food to a number of women with fami¬ 
lies to whom a portion of their time must be given. 
As a rule the work must be done in the evening or 
the early morning. In most of the larger buildings 
in cities, salaried janitors are kept by the proprietor 
for such work, so the applicant must seek her employ¬ 
ment in smaller buildings, where, as a rule, each ten¬ 
ant provides for the cleaning of his own office. If 
the woman does her work well and at the usual rates 
she will keep it year after year, and many supple¬ 
ment the income thus obtained by other work to be 
done during the middle of the day. 


HOP RAISING* 


Quite recently the papers have been telling of two 
sisters who are making money raising hops. They do 
all of the work themselves except during the season 
when the hops are picked and packed for market. 
Then the work must be done so quickly that they are 
obliged to hire considerable help. They say that 
there is nothing about the work much harder than 
many of the tasks that fall to the housewife, and that 



HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


89 


it is all much pleasanter, and they advise girls who 
are longing for independence and are living in the 
States adapted to hop culture to consider this source 
of money-making before entering some salaried oc¬ 
cupation, where they will be paid about half what is 
paid a man for the same amount of labor. 

These girls took a worn-out farm that was sold 
under foreclosure of mortgage for about half its true 
value. They borrowed money to purchase the farm 
and pay the expenses of their start, and in five years 
they had paid every cent of what they borrowed be¬ 
sides all their living expenses in the meantime. They 
had both worked on farms where hops were raised 
before they decided to earn a livelihood in this way. 

-o- 

COTTAGE CHEESE* 


Of late years many women earn a little money by 
the sale of cottage cheese. As a rule they sell it 
through grocery stores and women’s exchanges. Some 
sell directly to restaurants. In all cases, when the 
third party comes in, the price paid the maker of the 
cheese is very low. It is better to peddle your wares 
from house to house and get the price the housekeeper 
usually pays the grocer. You can take orders as you 
go, and so have an idea as to where a part of your 
next lot of cheese may be disposed of. 

One woman has worked up a trade that requires the 
milk from eight cows. She makes part of her cheese 




90 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


quite dry, works it into little cakes, wraps parafine 
paper around each one and sells it for five cents a 
cake. A larger part of it, however, is worked dry, 
then made soft with thick, sweet cream, seasoned for 
the table and packed into glass cans holding a pint. 
She has no difficulty in selling this at ten cents a 
pint, and she claims that it pays well. When asked 
to do so she leaves the can, calling for it next time, 
and she always calls at a house on a certain day of 
each week, so as to be expected. She has a different 
set of customers for each day in the week. Of course 
all do not buy every time, and what is left after sup¬ 
plying the regular customers is either put in a store 
for sale or used as samples in an attempt to get more 
customers. 

-o- 

ADVERTISING. 


It is a reflection on the inventive faculty in women 
that nearly every good advertising scheme has been 
evolved from the masculine brain. This is an age of 
advertising, and every one who has merchandise or 
other commodity of which he is anxious to dispose is 
glad to be helped to a method of introducing it not 
yet done to death by some one else. A woman with 
inventive genius will do well to set to work along this 
line of endeavor, for there is money in it. 

An increasing number of women are engaged in 
writing advertisements, a branch of literary work 
that has been found quite remunerative by those who 



HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


91 


have the ability to do it acceptably. Two sisters, liv¬ 
ing in the East, earn considerable pin money in this 
way. One writes the advertisement, and the other 
illustrates it, and they submit their work directly to 
the manufacturer. Of course it necessitates a knowl¬ 
edge of the manufacturers who advertise, but every 
periodical can give information on that subject to 
those who study the advertising columns. Not only 
should the person who thinks of attempting the work 
study the advertisements for addresses but in order 
that she may see what sort of work has already been 
accepted. 

o- 

DOLLS' DRESSMAKERS* 


One old lady who has a liking for dainty sewing 
earns quite a little spending money by making dolls’ 
clothes for sale. All her friends and acquaintances 
send her the scraps of silk and wool and laces for 
which they have no further use, knowing that every 
little scrap has value in her eyes. But the demand 
for her doll clothing is so great that she is often 
obliged to purchase material, and so her friends are 
always looking for bargains for her especial benefit. 
She keeps quite a stock of her tiny outfits on hand— 
some hanging up, others packed carefully in boxes. 
Her customers consist of nearly every child in the 
neighborhood, besides fond parents, uncles and aunt¬ 
ies who are looking for gifts for fortunate little girls. 

No small part of her income is derived from the 




92 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


lessons she gives in cutting and making dolls’ clothes. 
She charges each little pupil ten cents an hour, and 
as she is very particular about having the work done 
nicely and has a natural gift for teaching little folks, 
there are many mothers who are glad to have their 
daughters take lessons of her. They know that later 
on such instruction will help them greatly in cutting 
and fitting their own dresses. She never allows a 
child to stay longer than an hour at a time. When a 
pupil becomes proficient in cutting, fitting and mak¬ 
ing dolls’ dresses, she receives a cunning little diplo¬ 
ma, painted by the dear old white-haired dolls’ dress¬ 
maker, and every child thinks it worth working for. 


PEDDLING NUTS. 


A Minneapolis woman supports a sick husband and 
three small children by peddling nuts. The nuts are 
cracked in the evening, the husband being able to 
assist in this part of the work, and great care is taken 
to get the meats out whole. A long peach basket is 
prettily lined with paper and fitted with a pasteboard 
cover that is trimmed with tissue paper and looks 
very attractive. This basket contains the nuts, a 
pretty salt bottle full of salt and a small glass in 
which to measure the nuts. She sells them for five 
cents a glass, and usually makes a dollar and a quar¬ 
ter a day. Most of her customers are found in offices, 




HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


93 


and she calls at so many places that she seldom visits 
the same office oftener than once a week. She carries 
English walnuts, as a rule, but sometimes the basket 
is divided into compartments, and one can have a 
choice of three varieties. Sometimes there are pretty 
little bags containing squares of cocoanut. A ten- 
cent cocoanut is made to fill four of these bags and 
brings her twenty cents. Quite frequently there are 
little bags filled with peanut taffy, which she makes 
very nicely, and often the peanuts are simply candied 
over—sugared peanuts, she calls them. 

She thinks this is a better way to support her fam¬ 
ily than to try to get washing to do, for now she has 
nearly half of her day in which to attend to her home 
duties. 

- 0 - 


INFANTS'’ OUTFITS* 


A woman who is able to do fine sewing nicely may 
build up a fairly good business making infants’ outfits. 
She will have to understand how to do dainty hem¬ 
ming, hemstitching, fancy applied stitching and plain 
embroidery. Hand work is now given the rightful 
preference over machine-made embroideries and laces 
in the wardrobes of the little folks, which adds to 
the opportunities of the woman who desires to make 
her living by furnishing infants’ outfits. As a rule, it 
is wise for a woman who is skillful with her needle 
to develop some specialty., for advertising along this 
line will attract others much more readily than one 




94 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


for ordinary sewing. This is also true with the sign 
which is placed on the house. You may put out one 
with the words, “Fine Sewing” upon it, and it will 
scarcely be looked at, whereas one bearing the words, 
“Infants’ Outfits” would immediately attract atten¬ 
tion. 

A woman who goes into this work should always 
have on hand several complete outfits, and there 
should be considerable difference in their value. There 
should be an outfit that would be likely to attract the 
wealthy woman, as well as that which can be afforded 
by a laborer’s wife. In most cases orders will be 
given for outfits, for many mothers have ideas of 
their own which they wish carried out. There are 
cases, however, where the customer wishes to pur¬ 
chase at once, and whenever a part of an outfit or a 
complete outfit has been sold it should be replaced 
immediately, that it may be in readiness for new cus¬ 
tomers. 

o 


PARLOR MILLINERY* 


Parlor millinery offers a fine opportunity for ladies 
living in towns, villages or thickly settled country 
places. To succeed in this work a woman must have 
taste, a good eye for color, some business ability and 
a fair knowledge of millinery. She should have an 
attractive parlor, and her chances of success will in¬ 
crease in proportion as she is a charming hostess. 




HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


95 


It requires but little cash to start in this business, and 
only a portion of one’s time need be given it. 

One enterprising lady who went into parlor milli¬ 
nery had her parlor furnished with comfortable 
lounging chairs and made a practice of serving tea 
and wafers to her guests. It was a good idea, for 
ladies like nothing better than to visit together under 
such circumstances, and their orders are always 
enough more elaborate to pay for the expense of the 
refreshments. At one side of the room was a cup¬ 
board with glass doors where trimmed hats and bon¬ 
nets were kept, and there was another cupboard with 
glass doors in which was a fine display of ribbons, 
etc. There was, besides, a chiffonier in which were 
kept the bonnets whose owners did not wish them to 
be seen until they appeared at church. 

A lady who has a home or any financial backing 
can obtain a full supply of millinery from wholesale 
houses without a cash payment. The terms are so 
arranged, as a rule, that the first payment shall be 
made in thirty days, another in sixty, etc., giving an 
opportunity to dispose of some of the goods before the 
first payment comes due. If the stock has been 
chosen judiciously, with due consideration of the 
taste and the length of the pocketbooks of tjie prob¬ 
able customers, there should be little loss. It is wise 
toj make the first order a small one, for in these days 
a supplementary order can be filled and delivered 
very promptly. 

In addition to the hat frames, laces, ribbons, etc., 
needed in millinery, there should be a small stock of 


96 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


neckwear and dainty toilet articles which all girls 
delight in, but which few country girls have an op¬ 
portunity of choosing for themselves, for, as a rule, 
those of good taste and style are not seen in country 
stores. 

The lady who embarks in parlor millinery should 
keep herself posted on all the latest styles, and she 
should insist on selling to her customers only that 
which she knows to be becoming and in good taste. 
She must not allow the customer to buy two yards 
of ribbon when one could be used to better advan¬ 
tage, for her best advertising will be done by the 
bonnets she sends out. 

It is said by those who have tried it that one may 
make about fifty per cent, on the capital invested in 
this business, and that there is the double advantage 
of being able to attend to one’s ordinary occupations 
while building it up. The stock should be purchased 
but a short time before the season opens, and as one 
is buying for one’s friends and neighbors, a knowl¬ 
edge of their requirements should keep them from 
buying unsalable articles. A woman with common 
sense and good taste will meet with little loss even at 
first, and will find in parlor millinery a very pleasant 
way of earning a little money. 


CITY GUIDES* 

In large cities many women piece out their incomes 
by acting as guides to lady strangers who come with 



HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


97 


their husbands on business, and who would otherwise 
he obliged to remain at an hotel until the husband 
had leisure to accompany them on a sight-seeing ex¬ 
pedition. 

These guides usually get permission to place their 
cards in a conspicuous place in the bedrooms and 
on the parlor tables in hotels. The cards give their 
references and addresses and the price expected per 
hour. They have rooms near the center of the city, 
and can arrive quickly upon receiving a telephone 
message from the clerk. They sometimes fee the 
chambermaids who are instrumental in getting them 
employment, and are thus often called to the atten¬ 
tion of a lady who would not otherwise think of em¬ 
ploying them. They must, of course, know all of the 
direct routes to all parts of the city and how to get 
there with least expense. They must know how one 
may see the most that is worth seeing in the least 
time, and they must be able to read character well 
enough to form a fair idea as to what each visitor 
would consider best worth seeing. 

-o- 

JEWELERS, 


There are two sisters in New York, both under 
thirty years of age, who conduct a jewelry business 
and make it pay. One is an expert clockmaker; the 
other repairs watches, and both understand how to 
mend jewelry and set stones. They are pleasant and 





98 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


chatty, and prefer to act as their own clerks when¬ 
ever that is possible. 

One who contemplates going into this work should 
apprentice herself to some good jeweler, where she 
can become proficient in every detail. It is impossible 
to say how long a time will be required to learn 
the trade, for much depends upon the ability of the 
apprentice, as well as upon his opportunities. One can 
often learn faster with a jeweler in a country store, 
where there is little help, and the apprentice has an 
opportunity to try her hand at everything. If she 
can supplement such training with a few months 
with a jeweler, she should then find herself thor¬ 
oughly well fitted to open a shop for herself. 

A girl who had learned how to repair clocks and 
watches and mend jewelry opened a little shop for 
herself less than three years ago in a busy Western 
city, and is gradually working into a nice business 
and accumulating a stock of whicji she has every rea¬ 
son to be proud. When she begaii she had only her 
tools, and was obliged to rent table room in a depart¬ 
ment store. She has paid her own expenses and kept 
out of debt. She is a good workman, doing well what 
she undertakes, but, of course, she cannot do as 
many things as the experienced city jeweler. She has 
earned for herself the reputation of knowing how to 
repair a watch or clock and of not sending it home as 
bad as when she took it, as too many jewelers do. 
Every one who has gone to her for such work is sure 
to recommend her to some one else, and that is 
always the best sort of an advertisement. 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


99 


SHOPPING. 


To be able to make a business of shopping for 
others, one must possess good taste and good judg¬ 
ment. With these two requisites and a little money 
for advertising purposes, to send out circulars, etc., 
a woman who lives in a large city may be able to 
build up quite a business in this line. Recently a 
few enterprising shopping agents have sent out drum¬ 
mers into the neighboring country towns who take 
samples of dress goods, table linens, etc., and take 
orders which the shopping agent fills promptly. One 
important item which tends to insure patronage is 
the fact that no commission is usually charged those 
for whom the shopping is done. The profit to the one 
engaging in this occupation is gained through the 
commission which is allowed her by the firm of whom 
she makes the purchases. This must be made very 
plain to the customer, who will be suspicious unless 
she knows how the agent is to be remunerated for her 
trouble. It is well to make an arrangement with the 
various stores beforehand, that you may know what 
to expect and where to fill your orders as they come 
in. As a rule the shopping agent is allowed ten per 
cent, on all her purchases. 

The advertising to be done in this line should be 
through the papers which have the largest circula¬ 
tion in the country and in country towns. The agent 
must be able to give good references; if she can use 
the names of some persons who are well known, she 



ICO HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


will, of course, build up a good trade much more 
rapidly. She will also find it to her advantage to send 
out circular letters. Usually a good list of country 
names may be obtained of seedsmen for a small com¬ 
pensation. Dealers in agricultural implements can 
usually supply good lists. 

The shopping agent should not, however, depend 
entirely on country customers. An advertisement in 
the city papers, offering to do shopping for invalids 
or for those otherwise prevented from attending to 
their own purchases or to accompany those who wish 
to profit by the experience of the professional shop¬ 
per will, if accompanied by good references, bring 
trade after a time. But do not expect to hear from 
your city advertisement at once. As a rule city peo¬ 
ple do not read such things as country people do, and 
it takes much longer to work up a trade among them. 
Cards should also be left in all the hotels, offering 
your services free of charge to strangers who have 
come to the city to make purchases. If you make an 
agreement with the different firms in the city before¬ 
hand, they will credit you with a commission on all 
the purchases made by the people who accompany 
you. 

To be successful as a shopping agent it is necessary 
to have the faculty of putting yourself into the place 
of the one ordering as largely as possible. You must 
be able to comprehend their tastes and circumstances 
and thus purchase, not what would please you, but 
what would please them. 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 101 


JOB PRINTING. 


Is there any good reason why women cannot run 
job-printing offices successfully? There are three 
bright girls, all compositors, who are quite deter¬ 
mined to decide this question for themselves. They 
are going to take turns soliciting work, and all who 
know them believe they can succeed in getting all 
they can do, and that they will do it satisfactorily. 
They all know how to set type, read proof and “make 
up” forms. There are parts of the work that are not 
easy, but there is nothing harder than is undertaken 
by most women on wash day, and they know by ex¬ 
perience just what to expect. They have not yet been 
in business for themselves long enough for one to 
feel justified in calling them successful, but already 
they are more than making expenses. 

- 0 - 


SECOND-HAND BOOKSTORES. 


A man and his wife rented a little house the front 
part of which was suitable for a shop, and for many 
years they earned their living by dealing in second¬ 
hand books. The man died a few years ago after a 
long and tedious illness, during which the wife cared 
for him and the shop. too. Since his death she has 
still kept the shop open, and none of her customers 





102 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


has been able to see the difference in the manage¬ 
ment. Her success points the way to one more 
avenue by which women may seek independence. 

-o- 

POLISHING FURNITURE* 


A girl who needed work and who could not find it 
was given a fine recipe for a furniture polish that was 
exceedingly nice for pianos, and was taught how to 
use it. Now she earns a good living by going from 
house to house, where she polishes pianos and furni¬ 
ture. She also carries a very nice cleaning oil that she 
uses when she can get work at cleaning the finishing 
in fine rooms done in natural wood. It is not hard 
work, although it is somewhat tiresome, but she makes 
more than an ordinary clerk or typewriter, and works 
less hours. Then, when she is sick she can stay in 
her room without being afraid of losing her place, 
which is always worth taking into consideration when 
counting up one’s gains. 


PICTURE FRAMES. 


A girl who clerked in a store where picture frames 
are made became sick and lost her position. Girls 
were plentiful, and when she recovered she could 






HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 103 


neither get her old place back again, nor secure a 
new one; yet she must work or starve. Then it oc¬ 
curred to her that she was considered an expert in 
renovating old frames, more especially those of gilt, 
and that she might earn a living in that way. Pro¬ 
curing the necessary materials, she started out in 
search of employment. She could mend broken carv¬ 
ing by fastening on a certain composition (of which 
she had learned in the store), in imitation of the 
pattern, which, when dry, became very hard, and 
could be gilded or bronzed or stained to match the 
frame if it were of wood. She found employment in 
a majority of the homes which she visited, and her 
strange trade has already enabled her to travel half 
across the continent. 


-o 


LACE MAKING* 

Lace making as a business is at present monopo¬ 
lized by foreign women. It does not pay as well as 
the occupations in which activity or strength or an 
expenditure of money is required, but there is a large 
class of American women to whom even the small re¬ 
turns from this employment would seem very wel¬ 
come. The invalid or the cripple whose hands are 
not strong enough for sewing or knitting or for the 
heavier work of the household would find in lace 
making a pleasant occupation. The torchon lace is 
quite easily made, and sells at from twenty-five to 



104 HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


thirty-five cents a yard directly to the customer. Of 
course, if one must sell it to a dealer she will get less 
than that. There are few who can make more than 
a yard a day of even the simpler patterns. A woman 
living in the city can usually find customers for all 
she can make without being obliged to pay a com¬ 
mission to the storekeeper or to the various women’s 
exchanges. 

Although one could never hope to earn much in a 
day at this work, the year’s work would represent 
many dollars’ worth of comforts, and would be multi¬ 
plied indefinitely if one takes into consideration re¬ 
spite from the monotony of the sick room or the 
pleasure of giving to one’s friends from what one has 
earned herself. 


MILLINERY BY THE DAY* 

There are many girls who understand millinery and 
are quite capable of doing it satisfactorily who can¬ 
not obtain work in any store. To such, millinery by the 
day might prove a solution of their difficulties. Where 
one has many friends and acquaintances considerable 
work may usually be obtained through them; other¬ 
wise one must depend entirely upon advertising in 
the daily papers. Advertise just as girls do who 
want sewing by the day, except that you should state 
that a competent milliner is willing to go into fami¬ 
lies by the day for a certain remuneration. There are 



HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


105 


many women who have good material stowed away 
which they would he glad to use for themselves or 
for the young girls of the family if they could have 
the work done at a reasonable rate and in a satisfac¬ 
tory manner. If you understand the trade and have 
the knack of trimming tastefully, stylishly and with 
due regard to what is becoming to the face of the 
wearer, you may undertake to do millinery by the 
day and be reasonably certain of success. 


BIRDS. 


In favorable localities a fair living may be made by 
raising canaries and other song birds. A Western 
woman obtains all of her Christmas money by the 
sale of her canaries, of which she has many varieties. 
The market for canaries alone is limited, however, 
and if one hopes to earn more than the money need¬ 
ed for Christmas gifts, she should have different 
birds, and she will find that it will be but little 
more trouble to place a cage of pet squirrels in her 
bird store. The ideal bird store has many windows 
on the sunny side of the house, in which are vines 
and flowers in bloom, and it is so heated that the tem¬ 
perature may be kept uniform. A bird store will 
hardly pay in a village or small town, but may be 
undertaken in a large town or city with fair pros¬ 
pect of success. 




106 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


PROFESSIONAL NURSES* 


Women are the rightful nurses of the sick, and 
many who wish for employment that will at the same 
time be something like a “mission” turn to nursing. 
The field is more crowded now than it was a few 
years ago, still there is always something for the 
first-class nurse to do. The wages received vary 
from six to twenty dollars a week, much depending 
upon the ability of the nurse and the severity of the 
case to be cared for. When engaged in a private fam¬ 
ily the nurse’s board is free, and at no time is hers 
considered the work of a menial. Indeed, it is more 
apt to be thought that of a ministering angel. As 
a rule, the nurse wears simple gowns that can be 
washed frequently, and, when busy a large part of 
the time her other clothing gets little wear, so that 
the money she earns need not all go to dress, as it 
often does when one works in an office. 

Sound health and strong nerves are absolutely es¬ 
sential to the good nurse. She must also be possessed 
of patience, good common sense and self-control. If 
she have a trim figure, a light step, a low voice and a 
merry smile, all these will aid her in getting employ¬ 
ment. She must know how to read well, and she 
should have some knowledge of the topics of the day. 

After having decided that she possesses the requi¬ 
sites of a good nurse, and that it is a work to which 
she should give her whole heart, the next step taken 
by the woman who would be a professional nurse 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


107 


must be to find a place where she may learn. She 
should visit the different hospitals in the nearest city 
and apply for a position. She will probably also be 
required to pass an examination in the common 
branches of study, but it will not be severe. However, 
a girl is supposed to have a good common-school ed¬ 
ucation. She may find that there are a number of ap¬ 
plicants ahead of her, so she will be wise to make an 
application in more than one hospital. She will not 
receive any salary at first, consequently she should 
have a good supply of necessary clothing when she 
enters the hospital and enough money to meet her 
wants until such time as she begins to receive pay 
for her services. The matron at the hospital can give 
a very good idea of the amount that will be required 
for text books, etc. The text books deal with general 
nursing, physiology and materia medica for nurses, 
and it is a good plan for the applicant to study up on 
these subjects while waiting to be received into the 
hospital. 

In most hospitals the nurse must give three years 
before she can receive a diploma, and very little is 
paid until the beginning of the second year. As a 
rule, hospitals do not care to admit girls for training 
who are younger than twenty-three years or older 
than thirty-five. Only about three-fourths of the girls 
admitted are found able to complete the course. Many 
leave before the term of probation expires because 
they see for themselves that they are not at all suited 
for the work. One who has successfully passed 
through the rigorous course of training demanded, 


108 HOW WOMEN MaY EARN MONEY. 


and has secured her diploma and badge, is in a posi¬ 
tion to care for herself in a most independent man¬ 
ner. 

-o- 

CHILDREN'S CLOTHING* 


The woman who understands how to make child¬ 
ren’s clothing can work up a nice little business along 
that line. To be successful she must be able to work 
over grown people’s clothing to advantage. When it 
comes to be known that she can make nice cloaks for 
little girls and entire suits for little boys out of the 
father’s discarded suits, she will find her hands full. 
She should also know how to cut over union under¬ 
wear into nicely fitting underwear for the little folks. 
She must be able to make pretty caps to match the 
little cloaks and coats, and leggins, also, if needed. A 
sign on her house, “Dressmaking for Children,” would 
help to make her known, but her best advertise¬ 
ments will be the little garments she sends out, which 
have been made from partly worn material. 


REMODELING DRESSES* 


A dressmaker who did not succeed in getting as 
much work as she could do put out a sign, “Remodel¬ 
ing Dresses a Specialty.” She also advertised in the 
city papers from time to time, putting simply a line 






HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


109 


or two among the “personals” to the effect that she 
could make new sleeves out of old ones, renovate 
skirts, cover old buttonholes with pretty vests and 
make old dresses almost as good as new. It was not 
long before she had more work than she could do, 
and was obliged to hire an assistant. There are many 
women who would be very glad to know where they 
could get their dresses, made over at a reasonable 
price. 

A dressmaker going into this work could not afford 
to take expensive rooms. She must be able to give 
one of her living rooms to the work, so that the ex¬ 
pense of rent will not have to be paid from what she 
earns. One who is quick to see how pieces may be 
used to advantage, and who can cut and fit nicely, can 
earn much more in this way than she can by going 
out by the day. 

- 0 - 


CURTAINS. 


One who thoroughly understands how to wash, 
yron, mend and make curtains can earn a fair living 
in that line of work. Many people send their cur¬ 
tains away to be cleaned, and then, when ready to 
hang them, are in despair because of the undreamed¬ 
of rents they discover. To one unused to such work 
it is almost impossible to repair these places so that 
they shall not be conspicuous. One must pay well at 
laundries or dry-cleaning establishments for the 




110 HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


cleaning or laundering of curtains, and a woman at 
home could do it at a less price and make money at 
it. If she should advertise to take the curtains down, 
mend and clean them and drape them again, she 
would stand a still better chance of working up a good 
trade. She should have a good set of curtain frames, 
for the old substitute of pinning them closely to the 
carpet takes so long a time that it would eat up all 
the profits. The curtains should be thoroughly ex¬ 
amined, when taken down, not only that the worker 
may see how much time they will take and set her 
price accordingly, but that the owner of the curtains 
may be shown how much work will be required, and 
that places which barely hold together now will be 
quite apt to show a rent when the curtains are 
washed. Then these places should be reinforced be¬ 
fore the curtains are cleaned. 

The making of curtains should become an impor¬ 
tant part of this establishment, and a woman with 
ideas of her own will not be long in working up a 
good business. She should have a set of tiny win¬ 
dow frames made in order to show the different styles 
of curtains and the manner in which they should be 
draped. She should not be at all afraid to try mate¬ 
rials which are not commonly used in curtains, for 
every woman likes something original along that 
line, if it is also pretty and artistic. As a rule, fur¬ 
nishing establishments charge more for making cur¬ 
tains than the work is worth, and they would soon 
find themselves with but little of it to do if shoppers 
knew of some good reliable woman who would do it 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. m 


well at a reasonable price. Of course the making 
and hanging of the silk draperies that go over the 
curtains would naturally become a part of this busi¬ 
ness, and must be thoroughly studied by the person 
engaged in it. 


o- 

HOME DYEING* 


The dyeing of partially worn clothing or of new 
material to be used in rugs, or that which has been 
set aside for the rag carpet, is a disagreeable job that 
the housekeeper always dreads, but it is not so un¬ 
pleasant when one understands the work so well that 
there is little fear of failure, or when the work is so 
planned that one is not called away from it to attend 
to other duties. It is a wonder that there are not 
more enterprising women who have not thought to 
take up this branch of employment as a means of 
making money. There are women who think no more 
of dyeing a piece of goods than they would of washing 
it, and they invariably obtain good results. These 
are the women who should advertise to do “Success¬ 
ful Home Dyeing.” There are a great many women 
who object to the prepared dyes which are now of¬ 
fered for sale, and which may be used so easily that 
their sale has become enormous. They complain that 
goods colored with these dyes nearly always fade, 
and that some of them are apt to rot the material. 
They like much better to know what is used in the 




112 HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


coloring composition, and one really does not lose 
in the long run by telling them. In fact, if you mean 
to build up a good business and be considered reliable 
you must not use anything which you are afraid to 
have known. One country woman has made a great 
many dollars by knowing how to color a nice black 
with logwood chips. Every one knows what she uses, 
but no one feels sure of doing a piece of work so suc¬ 
cessfully as she does, and a great many would rather 
hire the work done than take the chances. Not only 
does she color goods by dipping them into the dye, 
but those which cannot be saturated, such as men’s 
overcoats, she colors by brushing them over with a 
very strong dye made especially for that purpose, 
doing the work so evenly that a rusty coat, if not 
badly worn, looks quite fresh and new. 


MUSHROOMS. 


Mushroom culture is only beginning to receive the 
amount of attention it really deserves, for there has 
never been a time when our cities were so over¬ 
stocked that first-class mushrooms would not bring 
a fair price. Mushroom raising is not beyond the 
strength of the average woman. 

The common meadow mushroom is the only one of 
all the edible varieties that is adapted to culture, but 
from it a number of varieties have been cultivated 
by enterprising dealers. 



HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


113 


By some, the mushroom is grown entirely in cel¬ 
lars, so as to insure as even a temperature as possible, 
for that is one of the essentials in mushroom cultiva¬ 
tion. One enterprising woman had a cellar dug under 
the barn, which she used for the purpose. It was well 
ventilated and frost proof. As soon as the mush¬ 
rooms appear all the ventilators are closed, for the 
crop is spoiled, even if slightly chilled. The tempera¬ 
ture must not exceed eighty-six degrees Fahrenheit or 
fall below fifty. 

Mushrooms may be successfully grown in sheds or 
stables or on walls that are well shaded. If you de¬ 
cide to use a wall, you will find movable beds the 
most convenient and economical, or you may simply 
fasten shelves on the wall, one above another. One 
lady raised enough mushrooms in half barrels to sup¬ 
ply her family and buy a sewing machine. The half 
barrels were fitted with strong casters, so it was not 
difficult to move them from place to place as the 
state of the temperature made necessary. 

It is not at all difficult to raise good mushrooms, 
and directions for their culture are easily obtained. 
You have only to decide whether or not you have a 
place to raise them and a market for them after they 
are raised. If you do not live on a farm you may be 
obliged to purchase manure, for the ground must be 
made exceedingly rich, and that may be difficult, for 
the manure must be used fresh, that its heating prop¬ 
erties may not be lost. The spawn with which the 
beds are planted is not expensive, and may be ob¬ 
tained of almost any seedsman. 


114 HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


A bed comes into bearing in from six to eight 
weeks after planting, and will produce an almost 
continuous crop for four months; then fresh beds 
must be made, for the mushrooms will no longer be 
fit for use. 

Save your peach baskets for packing purposes if 
you expect to be obliged to send your mushrooms 
away, and be sure to send them by express. 


WASHING FLUIDS* 


A woman living in a busy Western town makes 
quite a nice little sum of money each year by the sale 
of washing fluids, borax soaps and bluing, all of 
which she makes. She has some recipes that never 
fail, and her articles of merchandise have already 
acquired quite a reputation. Of course she will not 
tell how she makes them, but any woman can experi¬ 
ment along this line for herself, should she think of 
trying to earn money in this way. 


COOKING FOR GROCERY STORES* 

r 

A woman once supported her family through a se¬ 
vere winter by doing baking for two grocery stores. 
She began by making mince pies, baking for each 





HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


115 


store every day, alternating one with the other. The 
proprietors of the stores furnished everything re¬ 
quired for the pies, paying her a certain sum per 
dozen for her work. She made large quantities of the 
mince meat at a time, taking care not to mix that 
belonging to the two different grocery stores. Each 
of the grocers kept a portion of the mince meat to 
sell to such of their customers as preferred to make 
their own pies. Gradually other kinds of pies, ginger 
snaps, cookies and cakes were added, and, although 
all the family helped about the baking, it became nec¬ 
essary to hire a girl. 

There are many grocers who keep cooked food for 
sale, and a large proportion of them would prefer to 
have that which is home-made if they could make 
satisfactory arrangements with a good cook. 

During the next summer the woman above men¬ 
tioned earned her pin money by helping one of the 
grocers care for his fruit, which would otherwise have 
spoiled. She could not bake for him any longer, for 
her house was too small to allow of such work in hot 
weather. But she made hie apples into sweet pickles, 
and on every Saturday night she canned such of his 
fruit as had not been sold and which would certainly 
have spoiled before Monday morning. During the 
following winter he found a good market for his 
canned fruit, and was glad he had not sold it at a 
loss on Saturday evening in order to get rid of it. 


116 HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 

CANVASSING. 


There is no way in which a woman with the right 
qualifications can so easily make money as by can¬ 
vassing. One woman, the wife of a poor man, became 
so much of an invalid that she could no longer do her 
own work. It seemed quite an impossibility to bear 
the expense of hired help, and for a time the outlook 
was gloomy indeed. One day, while talking over the 
merits of a favorite journal with some ladies who 
were calling upon her, she chanced to get them so 
interested in it that they asked her to send in their 
names when she renewed her own subscription. That 
was the beginning. The doctor said she must spend 
a large part of every pleasant day in driving. Why 
not endeavor to make her rides profitable? A letter 
received from her a year later contained the follow¬ 
ing paragraph: 

“I frequently make seven dollars in six hours* 
work, and it really does not seem like work at all. 
My health is improving every day, and I am not only 
bearing the expense of a hired girl, as I set out to 
do, but I have paid my own doctor’s bill, and am now 
paying for a new kitchen with chamber overhead, 
which we have just had built.” 

Very little capital is needed to enable one to start 
out as a canvasser, and no wonderful amount of 
knowledge is required. You must thoroughly under¬ 
stand the merits of the article you have for sale, and 



HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 117 


the remainder of your knowledge will be better gained 
from experience than from books. 

The lady just quoted, when asked to tell the secret 
of her success from a canvasser’s point of view, re¬ 
plied: “Be sure to take what women want and what 
they can pay for. Consider the tastes, condition and 
pocketbooks of the people among whom you must 
canvass. If you always take a needful article, and 
one worth every cent you ask for it, instead of the 
doors being closed against you, you will find yourself 
a welcome visitor. Know all there is to learn about 
the goods you offer. Dress becomingly, smile your 
sweetest, and decide to leave a ray of sunshine in 
every home you visit, whether you leave any goods 
there or not. If you follow these rules you cannot 
fail.” 

The world is full of articles that may be profitably 
sold by canvassers. There is difliculty in deciding 
just what a certain person can handle, but as a rule 
no person can decide this so well as the one con¬ 
cerned. Often she has to decide from the knowledge 
gained by experience; so, if your first venture proves 
disappointing, don’t jump to the conclusion that you 
were not cut out for a canvasser, but try something 
else. 

One woman of frail health whose home was in Mon¬ 
tana sent to a large grocery house for a sample case 
of staple groceries—teas, coffees, dried fruits, spices, 
rice, breakfast foods, etc., obtaining permission to 
act as agent for that house in her community. Price 
lists were sent her. Then, with her samples, she 


118 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


drove from house to house taking orders. It was not 
long before she had built up quite a profitable busi¬ 
ness, for by fair dealing she was enabled to keep not 
only all her old customers but to gain many new 
ones among their friends whose orders she had not 
even solicited. 

Another lady in an adjoining village, hearing of 
her success, wrote to a dry goods firm for samples, 
and is now making twelve dollars a week selling 
their goods on commission, in addition to doing all 
the work for her family of three. She wisely selected 
samples of goods not carried in the village stores in 
the West, yet always in demand where there is even a 
semblance of social life. Her orders are sent in every 
day, and are always promptly filled because she de¬ 
mands it. If an article sent is not as good as the 
sample she sends it back immediately and informs 
her customer, whose faith in her in thus strength¬ 
ened, why she must be kept waiting. In both cases 
these women receive a certain percentage from the 
establishments they represent, and the goods are as 
cheap to the customers as they would have been had 
they gone to the store and bought them for them¬ 
selves. They are commercial travelers on a small 
scale, the only difference being that they deal directly 
with the customer, while the commercial traveler 
brings the manufacturer’s wares only to the mer¬ 
chant. 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


119 


SERICULTURE* 


Sericulture is a subject of vast importance to 
women, since it opens up for them a comparatively 
new field of labor. It requires but a short period of 
time, about eight weeks each year, and during nearly 
half of that time the work is so light that it could be 
done by any intelligent child of eight years. The 
work is fascinating, healthful and instructive, and, 
what is of greater importance, it is possible for in¬ 
valids who wish to earn something for themselves. 
One must not undertake it with the idea that eight 
weeks’ work will make her rich, or allow her to live 
the remainder of the year in idleness. 

Good cocoons sell at from one dollar to one dollar 
and a half a pound, and an ounce of eggs contains 
between thirty-five thousand and forty thousand. 
From these about forty pounds of cocoons should be 
produced. If sold at one dollar a pound, there would 
be forty dollars for eight weeks’ work. While this is 
not a large amount, most unemployed people would 
consider it fairly good pay, and to the mother of a 
family it would certainly be most acceptable. 

If there are no children whose time can be utilized 
in procuring food and doing other parts of the works, 
and you are obliged to hire help to go on with it, it 
will certainly not pay you. If you live where good 
help may be obtained at very low prices, however, 
there is, of course, less danger of the cocoons costing 
you more than they bring. For the first ten days one 



120 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


person can care for the moult; after that it would 
be impossible. That is why sericulture succeeds best 
when taken up as a family industry. 

Cocoons, to bring a dollar and a half per pound, 
must produce a quarter of a pound of silk each. In 
this country there are not many that will do that, 
consequently more cocoons are sold at a dollar a 
pound than at a higher price. 

It is not wise to purchase more than an ounce of 
eggs to begin with. Better send to the Agricultural 
Department at Washington, D. C., for them. You 
will probably be obliged to pay about a dollar and a 
half. 

Do not go into this work at all unless you are abso¬ 
lutely sure that you have a good supply of suitable 
food for the worms. Professor C. V. Riley, who is 
considered an authority on this subject, estimates 
that the worms from an ounce of eggs will eat be¬ 
tween fifteen hundred and sixteen hundred pounds of 
leaves in their thirty-five days of life. If food must 
be grown for them, plant the mulberry. The Rus¬ 
sian variety is the hardiest. Plant shrubs a year or 
two old, since food may be obtained from them so 
much sooner. The Osage orange can be used in 
States too cold for the mulberry to grow successfully. 
It will grow in nearly all of the States. Both the 
mulberry and the Osage orange make good hedges 
and help to beautify the farm. They may be pur¬ 
chased of nurserymen. 

Almost any room in your house may be used for 
a cocoonery, provided it can be ventilated and kept 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 121 


at an even temperature. The ventilation must be 
good, as the silk worm is very delicate. Tobacco 
cannot be tolerated in the cocoonery. It will pay you 
to vacate the room as soon as the eggs are hatched, 
and until the cocoons are cared for. Have the room 
perfectly clean to begin with, and keep it as free from 
dust as possible. If it is not heated by modern meth¬ 
ods, you must use a stove, for the temperature should 
never be below seventy-five or above eighty. Instruc¬ 
tions are usually sent with the eggs, but, like every¬ 
thing else, a larger part of one’s knowledge must be 
gained from experience. A most important item is 
that very little money is needed with which to make 
a start. Another of equal importance is that the work 
may be carried on by the non-producers of the family, 
and what is earned is clear gain. 

The Middle and Southern States are best adapted 
to silk culture. Any land that is rich enough to pro¬ 
duce corn will grow the Osage orange; also the white 
mulberry, but with the latter the climate must be 
taken into consideration. 

If you are a farmer’s wife and are looking for some 
way in which to earn a little money for yourself, con¬ 
sider the possibilities of silk culture. It seems as if 
American women ought to succeed in doing what 
Chinese, Italian and French peasants do so easily. 


122 HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


HULLED CORN* 


There is an opportunity in nearly all large towns 
to earn a little money by the sale of hulled corn, for 
which there is usually a good demand during all but 
the hottest months. In nearly all our cities the hulled 
corn vender is already known and welcomed. In Min¬ 
neapolis the position is filled by an itinerant preacher, 
who was no longer able to pursue his calling, and he 
has been heard to say that his family has not suffered 
by the change, but really live more comfortably. 

This is work which a woman can do quite as well 
as a man. To succeed in it, she must know how to 
hull corn nicely without having it taste of the lye 
used in the operation. It is never as good if the 
prepared lye, for sale at grocery stores, is used. That 
made from hardwood ashes is most satisfactory. It 
should be made so strong that the corn need not be 
boiled in it long to remove the hull, yet it should not 
be strong enough to cut the kernel. Most of the corn 
offered for sale is boiled too long in the lye, which 
makes it soft and tasteless, and always leaves it 
smelling of the lye, no matter how much subsequent 
boiling it may receive. Good hulled corn is tender, 
yet every kernel is whole and firm in v appearance. It 
does not taste or smell of lye, and none of the kernels 
is but half hulled. It is tempting to look at, and it 
tastes as good as it looks; but it requires a great 
amount of care and attention, and that is the reason 
we get so much that is inferior in quality. As soon 



HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 123 


as the hulls are loosened, the corn should he removed 
from the lye, and washed in many different waters, 
until no trace of the lye remains, and every hull has 
been removed. Then it should be boiled in water 
that is slightly salted until it is tender enough for 
the table. If offered for sale in glass quart cans, it 
will oftener find a purchaser than if carried about 
in a large receptacle from which it must be dipped. 
It will pay every time to make it look as tempting as 
possible, and the person who delivers it should be 
clean and attractive. 

-o- 

PUMPKINS. 


The wife of a farmer living a long way from the 
city makes quite a sum each year by the sale of dried 
pumpkins. The pumpkins are pared, sliced and boiled 
as for pies, being cooked down until quite dry, and 
great care is taken not to let the contents of the 
kettle become scorched. The pumpkin is then spread 
on a white cloth to a depth of nearly half an inch 
and dried in the sun or made into little cakes and 
dried on platters in the oven. Of course a fruit- 
dryer would enable one to work to greater advantage. 
When wanted for pies, the dried pumpkin is stewed 
slowly for half an hour in a very little boiling water 
and then used as if fresh, and no one can tell the dif¬ 
ference. 

The lady uses a small, very sweet pumpkin that she 
calls the pie pumpkin. Probably seed could be se- 




124 HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 

cured of any seedsman. She ships most of her pump¬ 
kin directly to friends of hers who keep restaurants 
and hotels. What they do not take is sold to grocers, 
but brings a much smaller price. She also sells con¬ 
siderable canned pumpkin, a large part of which is 
ordered through a woman’s exchange, where she 
usually has samples. 

Of late she has done a little advertising with a 
view to working up a mail trade for her dried pump¬ 
kin, and there is every indication that she will have 
all she can do. She offers, in her advertisement, to 
send enough dried pumpkin for five large pies for 
ten cents. When she sends the pumpkin she also 
sends a pleasant little note to the effect that she 
hopes it will be liked so well that a large order will 
be forthcoming. The larger quantities are sent by 
express. 


BATHROOMS FOR WOMEN. 


Any city of ten thousand inhabitants ought to sup¬ 
port at least one well-equipped bathroom for the ex¬ 
clusive use of ladies. Many women object to going 
to bathrooms run for men, except on the one day in 
the week that is set apart for ladies, for even the 
knowledge that there are only lady attendants on 
those days does not serve to overcome the feeling 
that they are going into bathrooms frequented by 
men. 



HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 125 


One who thinks of going into this business must 
have at least a thousand dollars to start with. She 
will, doubtless, be obliged to either pay rent for 
some months in advance or to guarantee payment 
before she can find a landlord who will fit the rooms 
up for her. Even then she will be obliged to supply 
many things for herself. If she could own a suitable 
building in addition to the thousand dollars she could 
then open up business quite independently. 

To be successful, she must know how to give all 
sorts of baths in a satisfactory manner; also how to 
select attendants who know their business and will 
not shirk, for success depends on steady patronage, 
and that depends on the service rendered the patrons. 
It is also important that she be a good judge of char¬ 
acter, for unless she is able to detect women of the 
objectionable class and to turn them away, she will 
not receive the patronage of respectable women, and 
without it she cannot succeed. 

-o- 


GLOVE REPAIRING. 


There is a man in one of our large Western cities 
who makes a living by cleaning and mending gloves. 
He goes from house to house collecting them, then he 
takes them to his room, where he mends and cleans 
them. As he does his work neatly, returns it 
promptly, and as his charges are less than those of 



126 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


the regular cleaning establishments, he has succeeded 
in building up quite a little business. 

This is work peculiarly fitted for women, and if 
undertaken by a deft-fingered woman, who could add 
the renovating of soiled ties to her work, it ought, in 
time, to prove remunerative. Like any other busi¬ 
ness, it is not built up in a day. One should have 
certain days on which to gather up their work and 
return it, and a book account should be kept. This 
will not only serve to prevent mistakes, but it can be 
used as a reference when seeking new custom among 
strangers. 


SHEEP RAISING* 


The raising of sheep requires very little labor that 
could not be done by women. Sheep do not need 
constant attention, and with the help of a few good 
books a start may be made without the knowledge 
gained from experience. The wise woman will start 
with two or three sheep, gradually increasing her 
flock to one ram and between forty and fifty ewes. 
It is best to purchase good ones, even though the first 
cost be a little more, and you should consider whether 
you wish them to excel in the production of wool or 
of meat. As a rule, sheep having medium wool 
neither very fine nor very coarse will be found the 
best for beginners, as they usually require lesj knowl¬ 
edge as to treatment. 




HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


127 


Do not think of raising sheep unless you have at 
least ten acres of land and money enough to provide 
warm quarters for your stock. To make the work 
pay, lambs should appear as early as February, and 
this is impossible if the sleeping quarters are cold or 
overcrowded. 

- 0 - 

SHOP-WORN GOODS. 


A widow whose home is in a busy little village is 
making a comfortable living for herself and her two 
children by selling shop-worn goods. She has made 
arrangements with the proprietors of the largest 
stores in a neighboring city whereby she receives 
their shop-worn goods to sell on commission. It is 
not generally known that most stdlres have many 
articles that are rendered unsalable to the average 
customer by having remained on shelf or counter or 
in a show window until slightly soiled, yet they are 
as valuable, except in appearance^ds anything else 
in the store. Women who do know this often get 
what they want at a great bargain. At one time the 
lady referred to chanced to purchase a four-dollar 
shawl for less than two dollars, simply because it 
was a little dingy along the crease where it had been 
folded. All her neighbors tried to purchase it, and 
she finally sold k for a dollar more than she had 
paid. This gave her the idea that led to the open¬ 
ing of her little store. It bears the sign, “Shop-worn 



128 HOT/ WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


Goods at a Bargain,” and in it everything may be 
found from headwear down to footwear, as well as 
table linens and other furnishings for the home. Her 
stock in trade costs her nothing. When a box of 
goods comes from a merchant she opens it, and labels 
every article with a card bearing the name of the 
sender and the price at which it must be sold. Her 
bookkeeping is done so carefully that she can tell in 
a moment just what she has received from any firm, 
whether sold or not, and, if sold, at what price. On 
the first of every month she sends a statement of ac¬ 
count to all merchants whose house she represents, 
and this is accompanied by a check in case she has 
made any sales. 

Such a store might not pay well in a large city, 
although they are sometimes to be found there; but 
in a small town, where many of the women do not 
feel able to go to the city very frequently, it ought 
to do well. 

-o- 


BICYCLE MAID* 


In a certain portion of New York City it is said that 
there is a business-like lassie who is known as “the 
bicycle maid.” She earns her pin money by going 
from house to house among the well-to-do class to 
clean bicycles belonging to the members who do not 
enjoy the task, and who dislike to take the necessary 
time and trouble to get them to the shops where such 



HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


129 


work is done. She carries everything necessary to her 
work in a black leather bag, and never leaves a wheel 
until it is put in the best possible order. She under- 
, stands the mechanism of a bicycle better than many 
men who attempt the work, and makes it a part of her 
business to see that every screw and nut is in its 
place, and that handle bars, saddles, etc., are in no 
danger of loosening unexpectedly. She charges just 
what the owner of the wheel would have to pay at 
the downtown shops, but her customers say that she 
does her work more thoroughly and that they prefer 
having it done at home, and so her orders are increas¬ 
ing steadily. 

- 0 - 

CLEANING LAMPS, SILVER, ETC 


A number of women are now earning their pin 
money by going from house to house to clean lamps, 
silver and bric-fl-brac. They carry all necessary ma¬ 
terials with them—silver polish, soft cloths, brushes, 
chamois skin—everything—and go right to work with¬ 
out troubling any one. Usually they are hired by busy 
women who cannot keep sufficient help, but often they 
are hired by domestics themselves, who would rather 
pay for having such work done than to do it. They 
are also hired by domestics to keep house for them 
for a day or an evening, when something of impor¬ 
tance is going on, and they cannot otherwise get 
leave of absence. Of course they charge more than 




130 HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 

the domestic would earn in the same length of time, 
for they consider the accommodation worth paying 
for. 

- 0 - 

BRIDE’S ASSISTANT. 


A very capable Eastern woman pieces out her in¬ 
come by acting as assistant in homes from which a 
bride is soon to go. She does the hundred and one 
things that usually fall to the overworked mother or 
sister, and many of which are apt to be forgotten in 
the press of other duties. She sees to the packing and 
strapping of the trunks, gives the last touches to the 
costumes, sees that the bride’s bouquet is within 
reach, and superintends the wedding breakfast or 
dinner—not as to cooking, but that it may be ready 
at the appointed moment. In short, she does every¬ 
thing that eyery one else forgets, and saves the 
mother so many steps that she is in demand wher^ 
ever she is known, when there is to be a wedding. 

-o- 


FUNERAL INSPECTOR* 


A few years ago the papers were telling of the odd 
way in which a certain woman was earning her bread 
and butter. She called herself a “funeral inspector.” 
When her services are required she goes to the house 






HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 131 

of mourning and assumes the whole charge, saving, 
the family many annoyances. She gives orders for 
flowers, arranges them, takes messages to friends or 
relatives who call, invites people to the services, ar¬ 
ranges the rooms for the funeral, talks matters over 
with the minister and the undertaker, sees that the' 
wishes of the family are carried out, and stands be¬ 
tween the afflicted family and the world at large^ 
These tasks may be small, but such assistance is high¬ 
ly appreciated, more especially when the beloved one 
has been laid away, and some one is needed with 
whom all cares and worries can be shared for a day 
or two. 

There are not many women with the right qualifica¬ 
tions to fill so difficult a position successfully. One 
must have an abundance of tact and a thorough 
knowledge of human nature. She must be capable,, 
cheerful and sympathetic and able to conduct every¬ 
thing without haste, noise or confusion. 

The woman referred to gets most of her work 
through physicians who know her worth and are. glad 
to recommend her. Of late years, however, many 
orders come directly from the afflicted who happen 
to know what she did for a friend in similar circum¬ 
stances. 


CARING FOR PETS. 


A young fellow who is obliged to work his way- 
through college conceived the idea of earning money- 




132 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


by caring for dogs and birds and other household 
pets. He washes dogs, cleans bird cages and attends 
to any pet that should be cared for regularly and is 
owned by a mistress who would rather pay to have it 
done than do it herself. Is there any reason why a 
woman could not do such work? The young man 
referred to charges at the rate of twenty-five cents 
an hour, which is a fair rate of payment for work 
requiring no greater skill. 


-o- 

CUSHIONS AND PILLOWS. 


A Chicago man supports himself by making artistic 
cushions and pillows, cozy nooks and easy chairs. He 
does his work artistically, and, being inventive and 
not afraid to follow his fancies, his handiwork is 
usually sought for and brings a good price. It does 
not matter to him whether a certain material is fash¬ 
ionable or not. If it strikes him as being artistic he 
uses it. He finds his market in the department stores 
and by exhibiting his cushions at the houses of the 
well-to-do. When he has nothing that quite suits a 
prospective customer, he does not urge what he has 
upon her, but asks if he may not bring something 
made especially for her. His business has grown so 
that he has decided to hire a good solicitor to take 
orders and deliver goods. 

There is a Minnesota farmer’s wife who also makes 
a little money for herself by the sale of cushions, but 
hers are not always covered, although she has enough 




HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 133 


of them that are to supply any unexpected demand. 
Some of her cushions are filled with the best of the 
feathers saved from dressing poultry for market. 
Others are filled with cotton from the milk weed, or 
with pine needles, or with the soft, elastic moss that 
grows near her home, or with dried rose leaves. 
Whatever may he utilized for such purposes is care¬ 
fully saved, and her cushions seem to grow without 
her missing the time spent in filling them. She takes- 
a few with her every time she goes to town to sell 
butter or eggs, and they find a ready market among 
women who have no opportunities to gather cushion-' 
filling for themselves. When she rests, she usually 
busies herself with a bit of fancy work, and it is al¬ 
ways a cushion cover of some sort. Only her odd mo¬ 
ments are used in this way; but the result is a nice 
little sum of money that is all her own. 


TAELE SPREADS* 

A crippled girl earns her money by making table 
spreads. She is very artistic, and even the cheapest of 
her table spreads are attractive. She always has a 
number on hand to show to strangers, and she makes 
a great many to order. Whenever she sells a spread, 
she asks the prevailing color of the room in which it 
is to be placed, for she prefers not to sell it at all 
rather than have it go into a room where it will not 
be harmonious. 



134 HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


EMBROIDERY* 


More than one woman earns money by doing em¬ 
broidery, and some support themselves nicely. Three 
Bisters, daughters of a wealthy man who died leaving 
them penniless, were forced to earn a living for them¬ 
selves and an invalid mother, and they could do noth¬ 
ing well except embroidery. This they did exception¬ 
ally well. They sent out a bright young girl to show 
samples of their work and to take orders, and they 
also left some of it at the Woman’s Exchange in their 
city. Finally, they opened a little shop in their par¬ 
lor, and advertised that they would teach art em¬ 
broidery for twenty-five cents a lesson. Each lesson 
occupied an hour. This advertisement brought them 
snore orders, and so they advertised quite extensively 
during the holiday season. They sent considerable 
work to the State and county fairs, and always re¬ 
ceived enough in premiums to more than repay them 
for their troubles. One of the sisters usually stayed at 
the fair, to sell the work and to take orders for more. 

They bought materials for their fancy work direct 
from the manufacturers, taking quite large quantities 
at a time, which made it much cheaper. This was 
Sold to their pupils, as wanted, at regular retail price, 
SFhlch afforded them another little source of Income. 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY, 


135 


DESIGNING* 


Women who are artistically inclined, who possess 
originality and versatility, and who have had enough 
training to know a good design when they see it, may 
make a comfortable living for themselves by design¬ 
ing. There is a call for good work and new ideas 
among the manufacturers of carpets, draperies, silks, 
paper boxes, wall papers, oil cloths, and, in fact, 
among all manufacturers who put out figured goods 
of any description. How shall the worker find his 
market? By studying the advertising pages of trade 
journals, where such manufacturers usually place their 
advertisements. In many instances they can get ad¬ 
dresses from the merchants with whom they deal. 
They must then send a specimen of their work di¬ 
rectly to the manufacturer, with an accompanying 
note to the effect that, if it is accepted, payment at his 
regular rates is expected. 

There is a woman in England who is known as £ 
designer of artistic furniture, and another who is 
making a success as a designer of costumes for lights 
opera—a field hitherto entirely held by men. 


CANDY-MAKING* 


There are few mothers but prefer home-made can¬ 
dies for their children to that which is usually for 





136 HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


sale in the stores, and there are few kinds of employ¬ 
ment for women more attractive than candy-making. 
It has a great advantage over many other lines of 
work in that it may be begun on a very small capital. 

Four brothers and sisters once wished to make 
their father a present of a new overcoat, and they 
wanted to purchase it with the money they had 
earned themselves, that it might be an entire sur¬ 
prise. But how earn the money? There was nothing 
they could do, successfully, “except make molasses 
candy,” as the eldest boy chanced to add, for they 
were making molasses candy in the kitchen while 
they discussed ways and means. The chance remark 
gave them an idea. The mother had just purchased 
a gallon of molasses, and before the children went 
to bed that night they converted it all into the nicest 
golden squares of molasses candy, each large enough 
for one good mouthful. The next morning each took 
a share of the candy, wrapped it in squares of white 
tissue paper, and started out to sell it. They visited 
offices almost entirely, and sold it all at a good profit. 
They bought another gallon of molasses for their 
mother, and some for themselves. They also bought 
peanuts, for they knew how to make nice peanut 
candy. Every day they went out to sell the candy 
they had made, and frequently they took orders for a 
pound or more to be brought the next day. And so it 
went on. Every day they practiced on new kinds of 
candy, and they never offered eny for sale until they 
had learned to make it well. When Christmas came 
they had more than enough money to buy the over* 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


137 


coat, yet they had not the remotest idea of giving up 
their business, which had grown so large that they 
were obliged to hire help in the evening, besides pay¬ 
ing mamma for wrapping their candies in tissue 
paper. 

There is a lady in Chfcago who prepares candies, 
salted almonds and various sweets for large grocery 
houses in that city, where they are placed for sale in 
glass cases, and look so tempting that they sell read¬ 
ily. During the holiday season she has hard work to 
fill her orders. She also advertises to supply sweets 
for special occasions, and during the winter season 
she has many orders from persons who desire to give 
pink teas, or arrange socials or other entertainments 
where it is desirable that the bon bons should be of 
the prevailing color decided upon. 


HOME-MADE REMEDIES* 


A middle-aged lady, who had been a trained nurse 
before marriage, was left a widow dependent on her 
/own resources and with small children that made it 
impossible for her to take up nursing again. She had 
always liked to prepare salves, lotions, liniments, and 
other home remedies, and was in the habit of supply¬ 
ing them free of charge to any one who might be in 
need of them. Now, she determined to turn her skill 
to account. Her eldest boy was given a nice little 
basket filled with neatly prepared boxes of salve and 




138 


HOW WOMEN MaY EARN MONEY. 


bottles of liniment, all carefully labeled, and told 
that be might have a commission on all that he sold. 
She also went out herself, when her youngest chil¬ 
dren were in school, and soon built up a nice little 
business, for there were many women who would 
rather hire such work done than to do it themselves. 
She gathered boneset and other herbs, and made bit¬ 
ters and extracts that many people preferred to medi¬ 
cines that were prescribed by doctors, believing them 
less harmful. She always told what she put into any 
of her concoctions, for she knew it would increase her 
customer’s confidence in her, while few would care to 
take the trouble to make such things for themselves 
when they could purchase them at a reasonable price. 

She had a tiny garden in which she raised as much 
as possible of the material used in her medicines, 
and what she was obliged to buy was always pur¬ 
chased in such quantities that she could get a reduc¬ 
tion in price. 


■o 


HAIR WORK* 


There is not so great a demand for hair switches, 
and for ornamental articles made of hair, as there 
used to be; still a little money may be made in that 
line of work, and one who likes it will not be sorry 
for having learned to do it well. One must under¬ 
stand how to make switches, wigs, waves and frizzes, 
as well as how to make watch guards, bracelets, 




HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


139 


flowers, etc. One lady began by going from house to 
house displaying her goods and soliciting work. Now 
she hires the work done, and spends all her time 
soliciting orders. When one is not a good solicitor 
it would pay to hire some one who is to take orders, 
especially if you can arrange to pay them a com¬ 
mission on their work instead of a salary. 


THE COMMERCIAL TRAVELER* 


The commercial traveler, who is engaged in dis¬ 
posing of goods by sample, has hitherto been thought 
of almost entirely in the masculine gender. There is 
not the least reason why this should be so. There is 
nothing about the work that cannot be undertaken by 
a woman, simply because she is a woman. In these 
days a traveling salesman is needed for almost every 
trade and business that can be mentioned—indeed, for 
almost every branch of it. 

To succeed, one must first serve an apprenticeship 
where she may learn all about the class of goods she 
hopes to sell. A good beginning may be made by ob¬ 
taining a position as clerk in some store where these 
goods are made a feature; but while doing the work 
and accepting the salary of a clerk, the woman who 
expects to become a traveling saleswoman must do 
much more. She will find abundant opportunities of 
increasing her store of knowledge if she only keeps 
her eyes open and her wits about her, and she will 




140 HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


also learn how to deal with people—a knowledge 
which will be of inestimable value. 

This work should not be undertaken by one who 
is not a good traveler. A salesman is obliged to 
travel almost constantly throughout the year, and 
traveling is usually done at night, that the days may 
be given to work. 

Commercial travelers are sometimes paid salaries, 
but a certain commission on what he sells is usually 
found most satisfactory to both parties, for whatever 
the plan may be he is, in the end, paid for his services 
according to what he can earn. 

If you are a good clerk, not afraid to praise your 
wares, not afraid of work, if you can read character 
well enough to know just how to meet your prospec¬ 
tive customers, if you are independent, wide-awake, 
pleasant and quick witted, you need not hesitate to 
start out as a commercial traveler. And you may be 
sure that you will have a better living and more in¬ 
dependence than any clerk will ever be able to com¬ 
mand. A good commercial traveler is never out of 
work. There are not many women fitted by nature 
for this position, but it holds a good opportunity for 
those who can avail themselves of it. 


THE DAY NURSERY. 


“Leave your babies with us, while you go shopping 
or calling, and they will receive the best of care. It 
will cost you five cents an hour for each child.” 




HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


141 


Notes similar to the above were sent out among the 
residents of a certain Western city. The residents 
belonged to the better class of working people, for 
the most part, and few could afford the services of a 
nurse girl. The woman and her two daughters who 
sent out the notes had taken care to secure the en¬ 
dorsement of a doctor and clergyman, both of whom 
were well known in the neighborhood, for they were 
sure there were few mothers who would trust their 
little ones to strangers who had no recommendations. 
Their home was pleasant, and all three loved children, 
and knew how to amuse them. The day nursery was 
not opened with the thought that it would afford a 
support, but simply that a little money might be 
earned to help the husband and father, who was try¬ 
ing to pay for his home out of a meagre salary. 

Women soon discovered that it was worth more 
than it cost to have their babies cared for while they 
did their shopping, instead of dragging the little 
things through crowded stores. Many young mothers 
were glad to avail themselves of the opportunity of 
paying calls or attending an occasional afternoon con¬ 
cert that the day nursery afforded them. It did them 
good to get out, good to get away from the children 
for a little while, and the members of their families 
agreed that it was worth much more than it cost. 

Was there an unusually hard day’s work, or some¬ 
thing to be done that required extra care, or did 
mamma get up with a nervous headache? For five 
cents an hour baby could be cared for nicely, and one 
source of worry was removed. 


142 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


Mothers told each other of this opportunity to rest 
from baby tending for an hour or two, and soon 
extra help had to be hired in the day nursery; for, 
although the mother and the two daughters knew 
just how to help the little folks to amuse themselves, 
they could not well manage more than twenty of 
them at once. 

To succeed in this, one must have a house with 
plenty of room, warm floors and good ventilation. 
The furniture must not be too good for everyday use. 
There need not be many toys, but there should be 
plenty of things to play with—spoons, cups, bells, 
strings, etc. One must have a genuine love for chil¬ 
dren, and a genius for gaining their confidence. If 
possible, one should own a cow, and she should surely 
know how to make wholesome bread. 

The day nursery is an established institution in 
many parts of the old countries, where they are made 
necessary because many mothers go out to work by 
the day. There is a good field for them in this coun¬ 
try, and, without doubt, they will one day be estab¬ 
lished institutions here also. It will be easier to start 
them then, but they will not pay as well as they will 
before competition becomes lively. 

- 0 - 


LAUNDRIES* 


A woman of good business ability may carry on a 
laundry and obtain a comfortable living thereby. 



HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 143 


without doing any of the hard work herself, except 
that which naturally falls to the overseer of any 
business of importance. This is a business that may 
be undertaken with a very small capital. 

One woman rented a house in the spring, in what 
she thought a good locality, and hung out her sign, 
“Hand Laundry.” Then she went to call upon such 
of her neighbors as she imagined might like to hire 
their washings done during the hot weather, and se¬ 
cured a few orders. She had some cards printed, 
which she left at boarding houses and family hotels, 
and they brought her a few orders. She agreed to do 
a washing, free of charge, for the landlady, providing 
she would send her custom amounting to five dollars, 
and this served to arouse her interest and enlist her 
co-operation. She hired one good, strong woman, to 
begin with, and gradually increased her force as work 
came to her. Everything was done well, nothing was 
slighted, promises were kept faithfully, clothes were 
cared for conscientiously, and the business grew 
steadily, making a living for its enterprising manager 
from the first. To-day she owns a large plant, fitted 
up with all the latest improvements. Her children at¬ 
tend college, and she owns a comfortable home free 
from incumbrance. 


CHURCH ENTERTAINMENTS* 


The modern church entertainment is not usually 
considered a means of money-making for the individ- 




144 HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


ual, yet there is at least one woman who makes a fair 
living by planning and superintending such gather¬ 
ings, when they are to be arranged for the object 
of making money for charitable purposes. As a rule, 
there are few ladies in the church with the requisite 
time or ability to superintend such entertainments, 
and without a competent leader they can never be 
very successful. It would pay most church societies 
to hire some one to get up their entertainments, and, 
by so doing, much unpleasant feeling would often be 
avoided. 

To succeed in this work, a lady should have a great 
deal of executive ability, uncommon firmness and tact, 
and a brilliant inventive genius for anything pertain¬ 
ing to entertainments. Not only must she be able to 
plan new entertainments, but she must have the 
courage to carry them out, and the enthusiasm neces¬ 
sary to make them successful. She must know ex¬ 
actly what she means to do before beginning on any 
part of it, and she must know how to put aside in¬ 
terested women of the church, who are full of un¬ 
asked advice, without hurting their feelings. 

A certain lady who had decided, after careful 
thought, that this was the only work she was capable 
of doing set herself to work to make a careful out¬ 
line of a dozen different entertainments. A blank 
book was devoted to each. She not only wrote out 
the entertainment, but carefully indexed it, so that 
she could quickly refer to any part of it. She made 
estimates on the cost of getting up the various en¬ 
tertainments, and made notes of the number of per- 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 145 

\ 

sons who would be required to take part and what 
each would be expected to do. She knew about how 
much of her time would be needed in getting up the 
entertainment and how much it would be worth, and 
she was so well up on her items as to be able to give 
prospective patrons a vast amount of information in 
a very little time. Then she sent letters to the vari¬ 
ous churches in her own and adjoining cities, asking 
if they expected to raise money for any especial pur¬ 
pose during the winter, and offering her services. It 
took some time to obtain as much of this work as 
she could do; but she has given such satisfaction 
wherever employed that her friends have advertised 
her freely, and she is now a very busy woman. She 
has a positive genius for training little children, and 
as they take part in a number of her entertainments, 
this ability contributes much to her success. 

She now gets up a great many entertainments, and 
is often asked to bring in outside talent. This has 
led to the organization of a sort of entertainment bu¬ 
reau, of which she is president. She has enrolled a 
number of artists along different lines, with the price 
they charge per evening, and a list of their accom¬ 
plishments. The artist is paid for his services by the 
church employing him, but it is understood that he 
pays the lady president of the bureau a certain fee for 
every engagement she obtains for him. 


146 HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


CURRENT TOPIC PARLORS* 


A lady who was confined to a wheel chair by partial 
paralysis of the lower limbs hit upon a most agree¬ 
able way to earn her pin money. She had always 
been a great reader, and having a bright, original 
mind and a retentive memory, was well up on all the 
important topics of the day. 

One day remarks dropped by a caller set her to 
thinking of the vast number of women who were not 
well informed but longed to be, yet who did not 
know how to use their limited time to the best ad¬ 
vantage. Then and there she resolved to start a class 
for such women, and immediately she began to lay 
plans for conducting it. She sent circular letters to 
most of the ladies whose names she found in the 
“blue book” when her plans were completed, and 
soon she had as large a class as she could accommo¬ 
date. 

Her method was simple yet effective. She took up 
a topic of general interest, and told the ladies all she 
had read about it, using the greatest care to present 
each side impartially. Then her pupils were allowed 
to ask all the questions on that topic that occurred to 
them, and a general discussion ensued. At the next 
meeting a review was given, and anything new on the 
subject that had come up was carefully gone over. 
Many of the pupils brought note books and all be¬ 
came greatly interested. 

This led to the teacher’s help being solicited in the 



HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


147 


preparation of club papers, and finally she had quite 
a number of pupils whom she taught by mail—send¬ 
ing them lists of questions on current topics, and re¬ 
vising and criticising their answers. \ 

It made life bright and busy, and well worth living j 
to a woman who could not take a step, and who 1 
might otherwise have been unhappy. She was en¬ 
abled to pay all her own expenses, and to hire many 
little things done for her comfort that she would 
never have mentioned had she been dependent upon 
another’s bounty. 


COZY CORNERS. 


A woman with artistic tendencies earns her pin 
money by arranging cozy corners for people who can 
afford to pay for such assistance. She began by making 
a number of sketches of ideal cozy corners, some origi¬ 
nal, others taken from the homes of her friends. 
These she carried from house to house in an album 
in which they were placed effectively. Underneath 
each were estimates of the expense of making a simi¬ 
lar corner, and this always included her services. 
When none of her sketches seemed exactly suited to 
the room under discussion, she designed something 
especially for it, and so happy was she in her ideas 
that she had no difficulty in finding as much work as 
she was able to do. 

She also impressed upon the employer the de- 




148 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


sirability of sending a small photograph of her cozy 
corner to friends at a distance, and earned a little 
money taking the photographs and finishing them. 

She made arrangements with a firm dealing in cur¬ 
tains, rugs, cushions and draperies whereby she re¬ 
ceived a ten per cent, commission on all goods sold 
through her, and this amounted to considerable in the 
course of a year. 


TOILET PARLORS. 


A woman who is clearing over a hundred dollars a 
month by means of toilet parlors opened less than 
three years ago says that it will require at least five 
hundred dollars to fit up the rooms and pay expenses 
until a business is established. This sum will not 
furnish rooms very elaborately, but will provide the 
necessary conveniences and a few pieces of furniture 
for a waiting room. 

To be successful in this line of work one must 
know how to dress and care for the hair, how to give 
facial massage treatment, as well as how to treat 
minor skin blemishes, and how to care for the hands 
and feet. She should serve an apprenticeship with a 
specialist in skin diseases, then with a chiropodist, as 
well as in parlors such as she hopes, finally, to open 
for herself. 

In these parlors she will learn how to wash and 
dress the hair, how to do manicure work, and how to 




HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


149 


give facial massage. She will be required to appren¬ 
tice herself for about four months, after which she 
should work at least a year, on a salary, in order to 
gain experience. Many women open parlors with no 
further knowledge of the work than that obtained in 
other parlors, but they are handicapped from the 
start, for women frequently want the scalp and the 
skin treated, and they will go to one who has knowl¬ 
edge along such lines if they can find her. 

Sometimes a chiropodist needs an assistant, and is 
willing to pay for the services of one by teaching, 
and there are few who will not give practical instruc¬ 
tions for a consideration. This is also true of spe¬ 
cialists in skin diseases. In addition the student 
should have a decided liking for materia medica, and 
should obtain all the knowledge possible on diseases 
of the scalp and skin. The more a woman knows 
when she goes into this business the more money she 
will make when it is once established. She must, 
however, be exceedingly careful from the start to 
keep out all women of questionable character, and she 
must have it understood that her parlors are open to, 
ladies only. On no account must gentlemen be ad¬ 
mitted, for there are few parlors opened for the ac¬ 
commodation of both sexes but soon get a reputation 
that in a short time drives away all self-respecting 
women. 

There are many women who do not have sufficient 
capital to open parlors, but who make a living by 
going to homes to give treatments for skin troubles, 
to care for the feet and the hands, and to wash and 


150 HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 

dress the hair. They require as much knowledge in 
the various branches of their work as the women who 
open parlors, but ten dollars will purchase as many 
tools as they will need for a start, and they do not 
4 have the regular expenses that the parlors involve. 
Then, if they are ill, they can rest, and not be worried 
with the thought that the expense of keeping up the 
parlors is going on, while the rooms remain closed. 
On the other hand, they must work up a trade by 
canvassing, as well as by advertising, and until they 
get a regular line of custom they can never make 
any sort of an estimate of the amount of money they 
will have, which, of course, is not satisfactory. Most 
of the women now presiding over toilet parlors began 
business by going to the homes of their customers, 
and there are women who have abandoned the parlors 
because they decided that there was less care and 
anxiety for them in doing their work at the homes of 
their customers. 


-o- 

SCHOOL FOR DRESS-CUTTING* 

There are a number of very good systems of dress¬ 
cutting on the market, and proprietors of them are 
glad to find agents who will sell them on commission 
and teach buyers how to use them. The usual way of 
doing this in cities and towns is to open a school in 
some convenient location. The pupils are charged a 
certain sum for instruction, which usually includes 



HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 151 


one of the charts, for, of course, they are only taught 
how to cut and fit by that chart. The first lessons 
should be given on garments belonging to the pupils, 
and, by the time the school is well established, others 
come in with dresses to make that furnish work 
for the pupils. Dresses are, as a rule, made much 
more cheaply in these schools than elsewhere, and so 
they are patronized by many to whom money comes 
slowly. The proprietor of one of these schools can 
afford to make dresses at a low price, for she gets 
pay for teaching the pupils, and also gets pay for 
doing the work on which the pupils learn. In addi¬ 
tion to that she has a commission on every dress 
chart sold. If she is a good business woman, under¬ 
stands dressmaking, and keeps up with the latest 
styles, she can build up a flourishing business, and 
furnish steady employment to the best of the girls 
she has trained. She will need them to help her with 
the finest gowns brought into the workroom and to 
superintend the newcomers. 

Some women have done exceedingly well in this 
line of work; others have not done so well, but, as a 
rule, the fault lay with themselves. A woman who 
has no knowledge of dressmaking should not open 
one of these schools and expect to succeed; yet many 
attempt it who have only the knowledge and experi¬ 
ence acquired while learning to use the chart. 


152 HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


LUNCHES* 


Serving lunches to the people who work in offices 
has become Quite a usual way of earning money in 
our larger cities; still it is, as yet, far from being 
overdone, and an opportunity is afforded one who is 
a good cook, as well as a good business woman, to 
earn a little money in this way. 

Sometimes the lunches are put up in bags, some¬ 
times in boxes. Usually a paper napkin is wrapped 
around them, and always they are made to look as 
tempting as possible. When ready for distribution 
they are carried to the offices in a large covered lunch 
basket. There are usually five-cent, ten-cent and fif- 
teen-cent lunches in each basket. The cheapest ones 
consist of a sandwich and either a doughnut, an apple 
or an orange, or a piece of cake. The ten-cent lunches 
usually contain two sandwiches, a piece of cake or pie, 
a pickle and some fruit, and the fifteen-cent lunches 
are quite elaborate. Care is taken to have a variety, 
so that regular purchasers of any of the lunches may 
not become tired of them, as they would do if the 
same thing were always served. There are many dif¬ 
ferent kinds of sandwiches, and many varieties of 
cake and pie, and the profits are not lessened, in the 
long run, by serving two or three varieties each day, 
as well as striving to have something unexpected. 
One woman, whose coming is looked for in many 
offices, frequently takes a glass of baked beans, or a 
cup custard, or a glass of apple tapioca, instead of 



HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


153 


cake or pie, to old customers whom she fears will 
tire of her lunches. Such food is not as easily de¬ 
livered, but she finds it no more expensive in the end. 
She collects dishes one day that were left the day 
before. Another woman hires a stout boy to accom¬ 
pany her to some of the buildings where she has a 
number of good customers. He carries a pail of hot 
coffee in each hand, for which her customers are only 
too glad to pay. She serves a variety of sandwiches 
and cookies, but no cake, pie or pickles. 

Some women find it profitable to carry lunches to 
the cars to sell to the passengers, more especially 
when the cars stop at their station near meal time. 
As they meet different people every time, they are 
not obliged to provide a variety, as when serving 
regular customers, and they can charge more; but, as 
a rule, there is apt to be more unsold, and they have 
not the opportunities of building up a business that 
would have a marketable value. 

One woman, living near a large school building, 
makes quite a little money selling lunches to school 
children. She tries to furnish food that is whole¬ 
some yet attractive, and so mothers do not find fault 
with her. She usually has sponge cakes baked in 
little tins, and her pies are not sold in slices, but in 
turnovers. She is a very busy woman during the 
periods of intermission, and often her entire stock 
will be sold, out before the youngsters have all been 
waited upon. In cold weather she makes a cereal 
coffee that, with cream and sugar, looks like the real 
article. It is nourishing and appetizing, and the chil- 


154 HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


dren who can order a cupful of it with their other 
food feel very important and grown up. 

Several vacant lots were to be filled in near the 
home of a certain woman, and the work was begun on 
a very disagreeable day. She made a pailful of good 
coffee and some nice old-fashioned gingerbread, and 
sent her little boy out to see if some of the men at 
work on the lots did not want to purchase her im¬ 
promptu lunch. It went in a hurry, and in the after¬ 
noon she sent the boy with another supply. He went 
twice a day as long as the men were at work, and 
always found customers. The same men did not pur¬ 
chase each time, but there were few who did not 
purchase many times, and, without doubt, drank less 
beer because of the hot coffee. The woman’s happy 
thought helped the family at a time when her hus¬ 
band was too ill to work, and, indeed, for some time 
afterward, for new buildings were erected on the lots, 
and the builders proved as good customers as the 
laborers had been. 


WOMEN'S EXCHANGES* 


There are many cities where there is no woman’s 
exchange, and few where one might not be opened 
to advantage. They are usually started by a number 
of women, who form a sort of syndicate, elect a board 
of managers, rent a building suitable for their pur¬ 
pose, and hire the help necessary to carry on their 



HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


155 


work; but there is no reason why they could not be 
started by one woman alone and made successful, 
provided she had the necessary means and the 
requisite qualifications from a business point of view. 

In the regularly organized exchanges the members 
contribute tvro dollars annually. There is also a ten 
per cent, commission on all goods sold, but in the ex¬ 
change started by the private individual this annual 
fee cannot be expected. 

The woman who starts a woman’s exchange ought to 
have enough capital to enable her to pay rent for a 
suitable store for at least a year. She will need show 
cases in which delicate articles left with her for sale 
may be kept away from dust, and she must make 
provision for heat and light. 

If she must start without capital, or with very lit¬ 
tle, she might rent a window in some store on a busi¬ 
ness street, where her g:oods may be displayed. One 
woman started her exchange in the parlors of her own 
home, and gradually worked up until she could a^ord 
to rent a suitable building, but it was slow work. 

In these exchanges women are not charged for 
leaving their work for sale, but they are obliged to 
pay a ten per cent, commission on every sale made. 
The owner of the work puts her own price on every¬ 
thing left for sale, and is told just what she will have 
left, if the work is sold, when the commission has 
been deducted. If she puts too high a price on her 
work the lady in charge of the exchange may offer 
her a suggestion to that effect, but she has no right 
whatever to cut the price. The owner of the work 


156 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


may remove it at any time, or replace it with some¬ 
thing fresh. In the case of articles of food, they who 
supply them are expected to bring fresh goods every 
morning, and take away that which remains of the 
amount bought the day before. 

As a rule, a lunch room is opened in connection 
with the woman’s exchange, which affords a market 
for a considerable quantity of the edibles left for sale. 

As will be seen, the woman who opens an exchange 
really opens a store for the sale of home-made goods, 
but with one difference—she is not obliged to pay a 
cent for the stock she displays, and she only becomes 
responsible for it to a limited extent. In case of fire, 
or theft, she does not replace the goods lost, and she 
must always make this plain to every one leaving 
merchandise in her keeping. Of course she is expect¬ 
ed to take reasonable care of such goods. It is to her 
own advantage to do so, just as it is to be agreeable 
and obliging under all circumstances for, if other 
women should refuse to leave things with her for sale, 
she would soon be obliged to shut up shop. 


HOUSE-CLEANING* 


In some cities regular house-cleaning brigades have 
been organized, and it is said that, in every instance, 
they find plenty of work to do during the spring and 
fall, and at other seasons of the year are kept fairly 
busy making newly-finished houses ready for habita- 




HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


157 


tion. They provide opportunities for energetic wom¬ 
en who wish to go into business for themselves. 

One of these brigades was organized by a frail lit¬ 
tle woman who could not spend half a day in washing 
windows, no matter how high a price she might be 
offered for such services, but she knows how such 
work should be done, and she is so businesslike that 
she never fails to impress that fact upon others. 

She had a little money to start with, and this was 
spent in sending out circulars and in advertising in 
the local papers. She found thoroughly competent 
help who were willing to work for her by the day 
until such time as she could give them steady em¬ 
ployment. She went to two women who were well 
known and whose recommendations would be of use, 
and offered to clean their houses free of charge, if 
they would write letters that she could use in her 
circulars, and she explained that she would not ex¬ 
pect the letters at all if they did not find the work 
entirely satisfactory. It is needless to add that she 
got the letters and used them to advantage. 

She sent out her circulars, and, while waiting for 
them to bring returns, she took the letters, put on a 
pretty business suit, and called upon the mistresses 
of well-to-do homes, soliciting employment. Her 
work was not in vain, and now she has all she can do 
without soliciting. 

When given a contract she immediately makes a 
memoranda of all that is to be done, and decides just 
how to push the work so that the owners of the house 
shall suffer as little inconvenience as possible. Her 


158 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


force consists of a paper hanger, a painter, a man who 
whitewashes or kalsomines, men who beat and clean 
carpets, men who make a business of repairing furni¬ 
ture, and both men and women who do the general 
work of cleaning. She will not have a person in her 
employ who does not take pride in his work or who 
cannot do it well. 

She has several one-horse wagons, and a laundry 
and cleaning establishment. When she goes to a 
house that she is to clean she takes all the help that 
can possibly be set to work there, and she knows 
how to keep quite an army working to advantage. 
Carpets are taken up, curtains are taken down, and, 
with all furniture needing considerable attention, are 
put into the wagons and carried to her workrooms, 
where skilled help is immediately set to work upon 
them. 

When the house is cleaned the woman who attends 
to the bric-a-brac, and the men whose business it is 
to put down carpets, hang draperies and arrange fur¬ 
niture, are sent in without loss of time, and every¬ 
thing is done so quietly, so thoroughly and so ex¬ 
peditiously that even the most fault-finding woman 
has nothing but words of praise. If a house cannot 
be completed in a day, care is taken to leave it as 
comfortable as possible for those who must spend the 
evening there. 

This woman is considered so reliable that many 
wealthy families give her the keys to their homes 
when going away for the summer, and she covers the 
furniture and puts everything away after they have 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


159 


gone, and gets the house in order for them before they 
return. 

So well does she manage that she can really clean 
a house more cheaply than it can be done if super¬ 
intended by its mistress, and so she is bound to have 
enough to do. She will not be persuaded into taking 
more than she can do well, nor does she make prom¬ 
ises that she cannot keep. No matter how many 
houses she may have on hand at the same time, she 
always manages to give each her personal supervision 
for a long enough period of time to enable her to be 
absolutely sure that everything is going on all right. 

-o- 

REFRESHMENT STANDS* 


The bicycle craze has opened up a line of work 
that is at present appropriated almost entirely by 
men, yet it is work particularly fitted for women. 
It is that of supplying refreshments for weary riders. 
To be successful one must live on a road much fre¬ 
quented by bicyclists, or must be able to build a stand 
there. On one of the beautiful roads leading from 
Minneapolis to Lake Minnetonka there stands a little 
cottage known to bicyclists as “the half-way house.” 
There is no sign to distinguish it from other houses, 
but one rider has told another about it until it has an 
established reputation as being “a fine place to get a 
glass of milk, or an excellent cup of coffee and a 
sandwich.” 




160 HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 

A woman who knows how to make a cup of first- 
class coffee, who serves it on a tray with real cream, 
and who can furnish a nice sandwich on. demand, 
need not have any other accomplishments in order to 
be patronized, if she is within reach of any one who 
is at all likely to purchase refreshments. 

Refreshment stands are always to be found where 
pleasure seekers are wont to congregate. As a rule, 
the proprietors make a fair living, although no one 
patronizes them unless it is quite unavoidable, for 
the refreshments they serve are usually anything but 
appetizing and their charges are outrageous. Sup¬ 
pose some woman were to start a rival stand. She 
might advertise to supply only sandwiches and coffee, 
but if her prices were reasonable and her food good 
she would not need to advertise a great while before 
she would have as many patrons as she could well 
supply. This is, at least, a method of money making 
which is worth considering, in case you have tried 
other methods in vain. 

-o- 

BEE-KEEPING* 

It is, comparatively speaking, but a short time 
since bee-keeping has been looked upon as an indus¬ 
try to be studied. In olden times it was believed to 
be ruled by chance. If one’s luck were good, he had 
honey for his table; if not, his bees died. Now, it is 
known that money may be made by keeping bees, and 



HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 161 


that success depends upon knowledge. Literature on 
the subject is by no means scarce, and good journals 
devoted to apiculture have an increasing subscription 
list. Modern methods have increased the supply of 
honey, and the price is lower in consequence, but the 
world is by no means overstocked, and good bee¬ 
keepers will tell you that the profits to be made from 
bees are just as certain as those from wheat or cows. 

It is surprising, when one considers how light the 
work is, that there are not more women who have 
turned to apiculture as a means of obtaining pin 
rnoney. Beekeepers who make money, yet who are 
considered conservative in their estimates, say that 
seventy pounds per hive is a fair average. Multiply 
this by the price per pound, as it is to-day, and you 
can form something of an idea as to the number of 
hives you must have in order to make a living. 

You will find it wise, however, to oegin with one 
or two hives, and work up as you gain in knowledge 
and experience. Begin by reading the best books on 
the subject, and by subscribing for one or two of the 
best journals. One year’s experience should fit a 
person of ordinary intelligence to go into the busi¬ 
ness on quite a large scale. 

It is wise to purchase good bees at the start; then, 
if it is not convenient to buy more, when the stock 
is to be enlarged the beekeeper may easily devote 
the energies of his hives to an increase of stock in¬ 
stead of to the production of honey. Under favorable 
conditions bees increase in numbers very rapidly, as 
many as nine swarms being taken from one hive in 


162 


HOW WOMEN MAY earn money. 


a single season. It is safer, however, to reckon on 
but three, and then you will not he likely to suffer 
disappointment. 

Better begin in the spring, when your only outlay 
will be for but one or two hives of bees, as you can 
afford. Do not let any one persuade you into getting 
more than two hives to start with. You can learn as 
much as you could from a larger number, and you are 
not in danger of being obliged to pay so high a price 
for your experience. Before going into the business you 
must decide where you will be likely to find a mar¬ 
ket for your surplus honey, and what it will cost you 
to market it. You must also know how far your bees 
will have,to go for food, and whether or not they 
will be able to return the same day. Then you must 
consider the question of wintering them, and must 
subtract from your estimated profits the amount 
necessary to feed your stock during the months when 
they cannot feed themselves. And you must have a 
good idea of the amount of money you will need for 
the purchase of hives, frames, smokers, honey ex¬ 
tractors and other necessary paraphernalia. All this 
may be learned beforehand, and any woman who goes 
into bee-keeping without a knowledge of such things 
is very foolish, and will doubtless meet with losses 
and vexation, as she deserves. 

If you live within reach of a library you can get 
books on the subject without difficulty. If you are 
miles from a library, and have little with which to 
buy books, and do not know what to buy even if you 
have the money, write to your home paper, enclosing 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


163 


a stamped envelope, and ask the editor to tell you of 
some journal devoted to apiculture; then send for a 
sample copy. If you like it subscribe for it, if you 
cannot hear of a better one; subscribe whether you| 
like it or not, and wait until you are better informed 1 
on such subjects, when you can easily select one to 
take its place. Among the advertisements you will 
find names of parties who deal in supplies for bee¬ 
keepers, and a letter will bring you any amount of 
information regarding prices. Do not go into this 
work, or into any work, for that matter, hoping that 
something will happen which will enable you to meet 
expenses as they are forced upon you. It is wiser to- 
know beforehand where the money is coming from, 
and to have 'a little sum laid aside to meet expenses 
upon which you had not counted. 

- 0 - 

CARPET WEAVING* 


The weaving of rag carpets is not the easiest of em¬ 
ployments, but many have found it a reliable source 
of income. 

Weaving is easily learned. Good, second-hand looms 
have been bought for ten dollars, and, without doubt, 
may be purchased as cheaply as that now if the party 
who wishes to buy can only find the party who wishes 
to sell. Insert an advertisement in the dailies of the 
nearest city for a few times, giving your address, and 
you will be likely to hear of a loom for sale. If you 




164 HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


know enough of the work to he sure of the style of 
loom you want, it is a good plan to have one made. 
Before doing so, however, pay some good weaver to 
teach you all she knows about the work. Have your 
loom so constructed that you can weave rugs and silk 
portieres as well as rag carpets, and you will be more 
sure to have steady employment. 

There are few women who ought to attempt this as 
their only means of livelihood, for it is back-break¬ 
ing work when continued hour after hour. As a 
means of earning pin money, it is not to be despised. 

A woman undertaking this work should know how 
to do all sorts of weaving where rags are used for 
filling. She should always have rags on hand to sell 
to the women who have underestimated the amount 
needed, and she should also have a little warp of each 
color that she can supply, for it will often save time 
and annoyance on her part, and earn the gratitude of 
her customer. 

A handsome rag carpet seldom lacks purchasers in 
house-cleaning time, more especially if made with a 
border. 

One woman has taken enough cash premiums at 
4 county fairs to pay for her loom twice over, and at 
every fair she has sold the rugs and carpets that drew 
the prize at a good price. 

Her prize carpets were all made with handsome 
hit-and-miss centers and striped borders. The center 
showed but few colors, which, of course, involved 
considerable dyeing of rags; but the results more 
than repaid her for her trouble. 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


165 


Of late years looms with fly shuttles have been in¬ 
vented that are said to enable one to weave much 
faster; but of course they could not be purchased by 
the beginner who has but a small capital. 


SELLING ON COMMISSION* 


There are wholesale firms that make a practice of 
sending out their goods to be sold on commission, and 
they are always glad to get names of reliable parties 
living in communities where they are not represented 
who will undertake to sell for them. In a book like 
this it is riot advisable to give names of firms doing 
such work. One who desires to sell goods on com¬ 
mission should purchase a copy or two of some trade 
journal devoted to the class of goods which they wish 
to represent. They will find in it any number of ad¬ 
vertisements of wholesale firms, and they should then 
send letters to a dozen or more of these firms, asking 
if they send out goods to be sold on commission and 
stating that the writer would like to represent them. 
A stamped and self-addressed envelope should be en¬ 
closed with each letter. Unless a person can give 
good references as to her reliability and can say so 
in her letter, she will not be likely to get goods, but 
with good recommendations she can obtain enough 
goods to stock a little store. 

At the beginning she will find it to her advantage 
to take samples of her goods from house to house, for 




166 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


in that way she will be enabled to work up a trade 
much more quickly. Many firms send a handy satchel 
upon application, in which their goods may be easily 
carried about. Even when customers begin coming 
to the store it is well to go out with goods at stated 
intervals, for there are many women who would buy 
if they could see them, but who seldom get away from 
home. 

You will soon learn what goods sell best and what 
firms you can deal with most satisfactorily. This is 
a means of money making best adapted to villages, 
where the local stores keep a meagre stock and where 
there are enough women to give a fair patronage. 
Women’s underwear, dainty neckwear, and, in their 
season, pretty holiday gifts, usually sell most readily. 

Most of the wholesale houses will require you to 
send in a statement at the beginning of each month, 
accompanied by the cash, for all sales you have made 
during the month, minus your commission. If this is 
attended to in a businesslike manner and you make, 
good sales, you will soon be in a positio'n where you 
can control several hundred dollars’ worth of goods 
without having a penny invested in your stock. 

- 0 - 

MASSAGE* 


Doctors say that there is bound to be a steadily in¬ 
creasing demand for women who can give good mas¬ 
sage treatments, for every day the common people 




HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


167 


i 

are becoming more alive to its importance as a cura¬ 
tive measure. In any sanitarium or hospital of im¬ 
portance it forms a part of the treatment, and very 
often a physician outside of these institutions sends 
a patient to them because he does not know where 
else he can get satisfactory massage treatments. 

Massage consists in rubbing, spatting and pinching 
the body, but it must be done in such a way as to 
strengthen and nourish the muscles, nerves and fibers 
and to accelerate circulation. It cannot be done satis¬ 
factorily by one who has no knowledge of hygiene 
and anatomy. It should not be undertaken by any 
woman who is not strong, healthy and of a cheerful 
nature. A woman who has a great deal of undefin- 
able force called magnetism will be likely to have 
most patients, because she will always send them 
away feeling better than any one else can make them 
feel. 

Some years ago a certain woman was told that she 
had a great deal of mesmeric power, and would make 
a fine magnetic healer. 

“I’ll do it,” she replied, promptly and decisively, 
although the idea had never before occurred to her. 
“I’ll be a magnetic healer, but I’ll not be a fraud.” 

She went to a woman who gave massage treat¬ 
ments and learned what she could there; then she 
went to a school of osteopathy, where she also took a 
course. To-day she has handsome private parlors 
and more patients than she can possibly treat. 

Physicians are always glad to hear of a woman who 
knows how to give good massage treatments, and 


168 HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


when you have once learned your trade, you must, 
as soon as possible, try to see all the physicians in 
the city where you mean to locate and ask them to 
send you patients. They will be only too glad to help 
you if you can satisfy them as to your ability. 

Massage is usually taught in hospitals and sanita¬ 
riums. They who give treatments in their own room 
sometimes piece out their incomes by taking pupils 
for private instruction. If you wish to go into this 
work and do not know where to go for lessons, or 
whether you would be likely to succeed in it, you 
would better have a talk with your physician about 
it. Without doubt he will be able to tell you where 
to apply. 

There are women who seem to be well fitted for such 
work, yet they do not succeed, even after having ac¬ 
quired all that can be learned without practice. It 
is difficult to see why they fail. It is simply because 
sick people do not like them, yet no one can tell the 
reason of their dislike. If you are one of the people 
whom sick people enjoy having about them, you need 
not be afraid to learn to give massage treatments 
with a view to earning a livelihood thereby; but if 
sick people do not like you, better try something else, 
for they will not feel any more comfortable when with 
you, no matter how much you may have learned. 
You may as well accept the fact that you have been 
born without that something which makes them feel 
better, and, although they may like you ever so much 
when they are well, they will always prefer that you 
should cut your calls short when they are ill. 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


169 


It usually costs nothing but one’s time to learn at 
sanitariums or hospitals how to give massage treat¬ 
ments. Before undertaking it one should have enough 
means to buy necessary clothing and to pay expenses 
for the five or six months that usually elapse before 
work begins to come in. 


- 0 - 

COLTS AND CALVES* 

That a woman may succeed in stock raising has 
been demonstrated too many times to need further 
affirmation here. While there are not many who are 
so situated financially and otherwise as to be able to 
go into it on a large scale, there are few farmers’ 
wives or daughters who may not earn a little pin 
money for themselves by raising some of the domestic 
animals. It may be objected that there is no longer 
any money in stock raising, yet it is a fact that there 
are many who are making money in just that way. 
It is true that the time has passed when one can get a 
hundred dollars for a very ordinary colt and two 
hundred dollars for a yoke of oxen, but there is still 
something to be made if one goes at the work intelli¬ 
gently. With lower prices, greater intelligence is re¬ 
quired. A few years ago it paid to raise stock in a 
haphazard fashion; not so to-day. One must study 
the work and know what food will make the best 
stock with the least expenditure of money. A woman 
undertaking this line of money-making must know 



170 HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 

what stock will thrive best in her locality, and what 
will pay best for her purposes. If she wishes to raise 
cattle for beef, she will not make the same selection 
that she would if milk or butter were her object. If 
she decide that she can sell a draught horse more 
quickly than a driving horse, she will choose her 
stock accordingly. 

A few years ago a woman living on a Western farm 
wished to visit her old home in the East, but there 
was no money for the purpose and no prospect of 
any for some time. About that time a puny little colt 
came into the world—so puny that her husband de¬ 
cided to kill it. 

“Don’t do that,” pleaded the wife. “Give it to me.” 

“What can you do with it?” he asked. 

“I’ll get it to take me for a visit to my old home,” 
was the prompt reply, and the colt’s life was spared. 

When the mother was in the fields this little colt 
was fed nice, sweet, warm milk. It took much time 
and patience to teach him to drink, but the woman 
persevered, knowing that it was necessary to keep the 
colt growing as fast as it could during its first years. 
When the colt was a year old he was sold for a hun¬ 
dred and ten dollars, and the woman went to visit 
at her old home. While few colts of that age will 
bring a hundred and ten dollars to-day, yet a good 
colt will bring something, and that will be found bet¬ 
ter than nothing to the woman who has no other way 
of making money for herself. 

The woman who has a constitutional fear of horses 
will do better to depend upon the raising of calves 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 171 


for her pin money. There is no young creature on 
the farm that is more attractive than a little calf, 
and they really do not require much of one’s time. 

4 Like the colt, they should be kept growing nicely, yet 
they must not be overfed. A calf that becomes stunted 
from lack of sufficient food or from illness caused 
from over-feeding, will never quite regain what it has 
lost. Judgment must be used, and there must be close 
watching and careful study of each little calf, if each 
is to be made to do its best. No hard-and-fast rule 
as to food and general care can be given, for there is 
nearly as much difference in calves as there is in 
children. 

One enterprising woman, who was a music teacher 
before marriage, says that she never in her life made 
money more easily or pleasantly than she has during 
the past few years since she began raising calves for 
sale. 

Another woman, whose husband is a farmer, had 
considerable to contend against at first, for her liege 
lord did not believe there was any money to be made 
in stock raising, and he said that he had no time to 
give to it anyhow. The wife finally obtained permis¬ 
sion to try it, provided he should in no way be 
troubled in the matter. With money she had put 
into the bank before marriage she purchased four 
cows. She bought the hay and grain they required from 
her husband, paying what he could get for it else¬ 
where. She hired a strong girl to help her about the 
house, and the girl did the milking. Enough butter 
and home-made cheese were sold to more than pay the 


172 HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 

girl. At first there was not enough to pay for the 
food her cows ate, and she was obliged to run in debt, 
but a careful account was kept, and in the end every 
cent was paid, with interest. Now her husband is 
often heard to say that his wife’s business is more 
profitable than his own, yet he has not been deprived 
of any home comforts because of it. 

-o- 

TYPEWRITING. 

Many bright, young girls, who do not enjoy work¬ 
ing in an office on a salary, find that they can care 
for themselves nicely by opening offices of their own, 
where they do typewriting by the piece. Besides hav¬ 
ing a good education and a fair amount of business 
ability, one who expects to earn a living in this way 
should attend a business college long enough to be¬ 
come expert in stenography and typewriting. A 
knowledge of bookkeeping will not come amiss, for 
one should be able to keep her own accounts, and to 
send out bills in a workmanlike manner. Too many 
undertake to do typewriting before they learn to spell' 
or punctuate properly, or have a clear idea of the 
use of capital letters. Without doubt they will fail. 
One woman, who cleared over a hundred dollars a 
month, said that, of all the preparatory work she had 
done, she found a year’s experience as a proof-reader 
the most helpful. She had tried bookkeeping and was 
liked by her employer, but could not be satisfied in 



HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


173 


any line of employment until she was working for 
herself. 

Yv r hen one is properly equipped from an educa¬ 
tional point of view there still remains the financial 
side of the question, which must be considered. First, 
you must have a first-class typewriter, with desk, a 
comfortable chair or two and a copy-holder. You can 
often make a beginning by renting a desk room in 
the office of some man who is willing to take pay in 
work, provided you have not money enough to open 
an office of your own at the start. You should be 
able to pay your rent for at least three months in 
advance, and you should have a desk, a table, a dic¬ 
tionary and several chairs, beside the furniture which 
you would purchase if renting desk room only. As 
you see, you would need several hundred dollars 
for a start. You will do best to get into an office 
building where most of the renters are young business 
men, for they seldom have sufficient business to war¬ 
rant them in purchasing a typewriter and employing 
some one to operate it, yet they have a certain amount 
which they hire done. 

At first you will have to send out cards and circu¬ 
lar letters soliciting work, and, perhaps, do a little 
advertising in order to let it be known where you are 
and what you are prepared to do. 


174 HOW WC MEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


WEARING APPAREL* 

There is an old lady in Minneapolis who makes 
her pin money selling aprons and oversleeves, .which 
she makes of black sateen. Her customers are found 
in the downtown offices, where women work. When 
the weather is too cold or stormy for her to go out 
she spends her time in sewing, and then, when a 
bright day comes, she has a nice stock of goods to 
peddle. She enjoys getting about, and as she visits 
the same offices two or three times a year, she re¬ 
ceives many friendly greetings from those who re¬ 
member her pleasant old face and are glad to see it 
again. 

In another city, farther south, two sisters are build¬ 
ing up quite an industry along this line. They mak 
black aprons and oversleeves for office girls and 
clerks, gingham ones for housewives, and those of 
linen for butchers, bakers and waiters in restaurants. 
They also make the white caps and jackets worn by 
these men. They make aprons of bed-tfcking for car¬ 
penters and men who husk corn, sun bonnets and sun 
hats for women and children, and mittens of heavy 
cloth covered with buckskin for farmers. Whatever 
in the line of wearing apparel one cannot find in an 
ordinary store may be found in their parlor, which is 
used for workroom and store combined. Part of 
their work is put on sale in a country store five miles 
away, part is sold directly from their own shop, and a 
great deal is sold by them on pleasant days when it 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


175 


is easier to go from house to house and from office to 
office than it is to stay at home. All their work is 
well done. It reminds one of the work done by one’s 
mother. Perhaps that is the reason it sells so well. 

-o- 

SARATOGA CHIPS. 


Some one has said that, no matter how crowded a 
line of work may be, there is always a market for 
that which is made so well that few can equal it. 
To make a success of any money-making enterprise 
one must be careful in the minutia, and this rule holds 
good in the making of Saratoga chips. They are 
always in demand, and to one who learns the art of 
making them well there is a fine opportunity to make 
a good income. Commence on a small scale, and you 
may increase your facilities as your business in¬ 
creases. 

First, notify your friends and neighbors that you 
intend making Saratoga chips to sell, and perhaps 
allow them to sample some of your make, persuade 
them to give you a small order, and then endeavor to 
procure other orders from each grocer in your vicin¬ 
ity, and make arrangements to supply the Woman’s 
Exchange. Having arranged this part of the business 
satisfactorily, proceed to make the chips to fill your 
orders. 

First, buy your potatoes, a few bushels to begin 
with, directly from a farmer, if possible. You will 



176 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


find that it is more economical as well as much more 
satisfactory to purchase the leaf, and try out your 
own lard. You can get it at any meat market at six 
cents a pound, whereas you will be obliged to pay 
eight cents a pound for lard which is not nearly so 
sweet. If tried out properly, there is very little loss 
in weight. 

Pare and slice your potatoes very thin. You can 
best do this with the slaw cutter. They must be like 
shavings. Lay them in strong salt water about ten 
minutes to harden them, then squeeze all the water 
from them, and lay them on a cloth to drain. Place 
a large, shallow kettle on the range (a doughnut 
kettle is nice), fill it half full of lard, let it boil slowly 
until it is smoking hot, drop in a quantity of your 
potato shavings, let them cook until a delicate brown, 
then remove them with a skimmer, lay them on a 
cloth until perfectly dry, when they may be placed in 
boxes, pans, etc. 

Care should be taken not to brown them too much, 
as they will not present so attractive an appearance; 
yet equal care must be taken that they are sufficiently 
brown, and for this reason you must be quite sure 
that your lard is just the right temperature. It is a 
good plan to drop one slice in to test it. 

A lady of Indianapolis, only eighteen years old, 
commenced making Saratoga chips, which were so 
good that every one who tried them pronounced them 
the best of any that they had tasted. For a few 
months her business was confined to supplying pri¬ 
vate families and the Woman’s Exchange of her city. 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


177 


She sent samples of her Saratoga chips to wholesale 
dealers, many of whom became regular customers. 
She now furnishes them with six hundred pounds per 
week, and gives her time to directing her business, for 
the work is done by hired assistants. She buys pota¬ 
toes by the hundreds of bushels, and, of course, gets 
them at wholesale rates. 


- 0 - 

FROGS* 

One of the most unique ways of earning a living 
was conceived by a New Jersey girl, who, for seven 
years, has supported herself by raising frogs. She 
taught school for many years, but tired of that and 
began to look about her for some occupation which 
would give her steady employment at a better salary. 
She now owns a bog and swamp farm, where she 
raises her frogs. It is reported that her frog returns 
the first year brought her sixteen hundred dollars, 
and now she is said to be one of the most financially 
prosperous citizens of the little town where she lives. 
While this is not a sort of employment that will be 
likely to attract the majority of those who read this 
book, yet there may be one who finds in this item the 
very suggestion she needs. 



178 HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 

OFFICE SUPPLIES* 

Women in cities sometimes make a very good living 
soliciting orders for office supplies, such as station¬ 
ery, typewriter sundries, letter books, etc. They se¬ 
cure a list of several dealers in these lines, who agree 
to fill any orders they may take and pay the solicitor 
a certain commission. The solicitor then makes a 
systematic canvass of the office buildings once a 
month or oftener, always endeavoring to call regu¬ 
larly, that she may be expected. Although the owner 
of the office does not get his supplies any more 
cheaply than he would by going to the dealer for 
them, he prefers to order through the solicitor, as it 
saves him trouble. Besides, she makes it a part of her 
business to see that he gets exactly what he wants, 
which saves him much time and annoyance. Most 
dealers allow these solicitors a ten per cent, commis¬ 
sion on their purchases. - 

As will be seen, they cannot make much until they 
have worked up a large enough trade to give them 
orders amounting to at least twenty dollars a day. 
This is not, therefore, the sort of work to be under¬ 
taken except in large cities. 


TOILET COUNSELOR* 


A journalist interested in woman’s work chanced to 
hear of a young lady, a minister’s daughter, who had 




HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


m 


adopted a novel method of swelling the family in¬ 
come. She was not allowed to take up any of the 
work which afforded employment for her girl friends, 
for, being a minister’s daughter, all of her father’s 
parishioners thought they had something to say about 
it, and every such line of work aroused the opposition 
of some one. Being possessed of excellent taste, she 
had, since a child, helped her friends to make the best 
of themselves, and when she decided to start into busi¬ 
ness as “toilet counselor” it was not difficult for her 
to get necessary recommendations. She did not ad¬ 
vertise, as she would have liked to do, because her 
father objected, but every one she helped had some 
friend whom she told, and so her work grew. She 
charged one dollar an hour for consultation in her 
office, and fifty cents an hour when she accompanied 
any of her customers on a shopping expedition. She 
told how to dress the hair becomingly, what colors 
could be worn to the best advantage, what style of 
gown should be adopted, what neckwear should or 
should not be worn, and what style of hat or bonnet 
should be selected. Her taste was faultless. She 
was an artist by nature, and every customer was 
studied as if she were a picture. She tried the hair 
in various ways until it suited the face of her cus¬ 
tomer, then taught her how to arrange it herself, and 
she showed, by comparison, just what colors and 
shades of colors were best suited to her complexion, 
and how prevailing styles could be modified so as to 
be becoming yet stylish. 

Few persons can tell the effect of colors and styles 


180 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


upon themselves, and she found many who were more 
than willing to pay for such instruction. 

Of course there are few who can do this work suc¬ 
cessfully. One must possess tact to an unlimited 
degree, for in telling one what she cannot wear there 
is always the danger of wounding the sensitive by 
touching upon imperfections which they would pre¬ 
fer to believe are really not very noticeable. One 
must know how to seem to ignore the imperfections 
and teach her lesson by emphasizing the good points, 
yet she must be firm and stick to what she knows is 
really the best interests of her customer or she will 
very soon lose her patronage. 

-o- 

DIRT BY THE BUSHEL* 


Although women are supposed to have a natural 
abhorrence for dirt, there is at least one woman who 
has discovered that she can sell it for fifty cents a 
bushel and thereby obtain her pin money. 

It is often difficult for the city housewife to get 
good soil for potting plants, and when it is brought 
right to her door she considers herself fortunate, even 
though she is obliged to pay for it. 

The woman who sells dirt has a light market 
wagon, and carries her supplies in neat wooden boxes 
with covers. These boxes are carefully labeled, for 
there are different mixtures, suited to the needs of 
different plants. When requested to, she will fill the 




HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 181 


pots and transplant the flowers, for which work she 
charges at the rate of thirty cents an hour. This is, 
of course, in addition to the price of the dirt used. 
The price may seem high to some, but when one real¬ 
izes how many plants can be repotted in an hour by 
a deft-fingered woman, one never feels that she has 
reason for complaint. 

All the plant soil sold by this woman is subjected 
to a baking process that rids it of insects injurious to 
plant life. The woman who loves flowers in her home 
will find it difficult to say no to the woman who 
comes to her door with just the food her plants re¬ 
quire, more especially when it may be purchased so 
reasonably, and she will be likely to give an order for 
dirt to be delivered at least once a year—twice a year 
if she raises many plants. 


o- 


RUGS* 


A certain woman is known for many miles around 
the locality in which she lives as “the rug woman.” 
She has always had a mania for rug-making, and 
eagerly seeks information regarding new styles in 
home-made rugs. It would really hurt her to know 
that any woman could make a rug that was in any 
way superior to hers, or that was in a style which she 
could not copy. 

She has a loom on which she weaves very hand¬ 
some rugs, but her sheepskin rugs sell most readily. 





182 HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


Her husband owns a sheep ranch not many miles 
from the town in which she lives, and all of the pelts 
of the sheep that die during the winter are given to 
her. It is hard work to prepare them for rugs, but 
she does it with the assistance of one strong woman 
and a boy. She finds the work far more satisfactory 
if she superintends it herself. When the skin is well 
tanned, soft and sweet, and the wool clean and white, 
a part of it is dyed in pretty and substantial shades. 
Some of her sheepskin rugs are all in one shade; 
others are composed of strips of different colors sewed 
together, either for an entire rug or for a border on a 
rug, the center of which is one color. Many of the 
rugs are made entirely of small pieces of sheepskin, 
colored and sewed in blocks like old-fashioned quilts. 
These have two advantages—one is their novelty, the 
other is that the small bits left from other rugs may 
be utilized. 

These sheepskin rugs wear almost indefinitely, and 
are pretty for couches or for the invalid’s chair. They 
clean easily and sell well. 

This lady also weaves rugs of old carpeting that 
are warm, durable, and much sought after by the 
artistic. When soiled they have only to be hung on 
a clothesline, where they may be played upon by a gar¬ 
den hose until perfectly clean. Either ingrain or 
Brussels carpeting are used in the manufacture of 
these rugs. They can be made to order by her from 
one’s old carpeting for a certain price per yard. She 
also purchases second-hand carpeting, when she can 
get it for a song, and makes handsome rugs, which are 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


183 


for sale at her home or in the stores where she has 
made arrangements to place them, or through the 
agent who now travels for her constantly. 

She has old-fashioned braided rugs which sell well, 
drawn rugs for which there is a fair market, and 
other varieties which do not sell at all, because they 
require more work than they are worth. But they 
serve to furnish her salesroom and attract the cu¬ 
rious, and so she considers them of value from a busi¬ 
ness point of view, since they help to advertise her 
as “the rug woman,” and, in this day of specialties, 
that is no small matter. 


-o 


TAXIDERMY. 


It is said that of the many avenues now open to 
women, taxidermy has been entered by the fewest; 
yet, to a certain extent, it is found profitable as well 
as pleasant. To make it successful from a financial 
point of view, one must understand how to dress 
skins as well as how to stuff and mount specimens, 
and, of course, one who is located where hunting is 
good will do better than one who lives in a place 
where game is brought from a distance. 

There are several very good books from which one 
may learn taxidermy; but, if possible, there should be 
many weeks’ practice under the instruction of a prac¬ 
tical taxidermist. Any one having patience, deft 
fingers, precision and a love for the work may learn 




184 HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


to do it acceptably. To do it exceedingly well, one 
should have a good knowledge of natural history, and 
should be a close student of animal life. In no other 
way can lifelike effects be obtained. 

It is believed that the work of the taxidermists 
should be seen more frequently than it is in all build¬ 
ings devoted to educational purposes, and that it 
would be if there were more good taxidermists who 
would dispose of their work at reasonable rates and 
interest themselves in trying to dispose of it. At 
present the taxidermist expects his customers to come 
to him. This is an age when the producer seeks the 
purchaser, and the enterprising taxidermist, who can 
convince the school board of the advantages of hav¬ 
ing practical illustrations to the lessons in natural 
history is the one who is going to make her business 
pay. 

- 0 - 

MENDING BUREAU* 


Four girls, all of whom understand how to do fine 
needlework, as well as that which is more practi¬ 
cal, opened a mending bureau. One made a specialty 
of putting new facings and bindings on dress skirts; 
another mended underwear; a third devoted herself 
to repairing coats, cloaks, basques and men’s wear, 
and the fourth mended laces, gloves, fine table linen 
and dainty trifles that are usually thrown away when 
torn, because there are few who know how to repair 
them nicely. 





HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. i85 


The girls had cards printed which they took turns 
in distributing. At first all but one would go on what 
they called “a distributing tour,” but as work began 
to come in they had less and less time for this part 
of the business. 

They were pleasant, obliging and ladylike, and they 
often brought work back with them from their “dis¬ 
tributing tours.” They never failed to make friends 
who, if they could not give them work, were very glad 
to recommend them to others, and the girls soon saw 
that they were right in the belief that there were as 
many who were glad to pay for having their mending 
done as they were glad to do it. 

There are mending bureaus in a number of our 
large cities, but it is safe to say that there are many 
such fields still unoccupied, and in some of the very 
cities where there are capable seamstresses suffering 
for work. 


FOOD SPECIALTIES. 


Not long ago the papers were telling of a business¬ 
like woman, living near a thriving Western town, who 
makes a good living selling mincemeat, fruit cake, 
head cheese, sausage and Hamburger steak. She began 
by making tiny mince pies, which she left at the 
houses where she hoped to find customers, stating 
that she would like to have orders, and at what prices 
she could fill them. At least two-thirds of those who 
had received samples ordered some of her mince pies 




186 HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


or her mincemeat. When she delivered it she sent 
with it samples of her fruit cake, with a note saying 
for how much per pound she could make it. And so 
she worked with each article of food that she pro¬ 
posed making. If a housekeeper failed to order either 
mincemeat or fruit cake she left a sample of some¬ 
thing else next time, and there were few of those upon 
whom she called from whom she did not get an order 
for some of her specialties. Whatever she undertook 
she did exceedingly well. None but the best materials 
were ever used. She was an excellent judge of grocer¬ 
ies and meats, and seldom had anything inferior of¬ 
fered her. Then she always bought by the quantity, 
and so paid less than housekeepers usually pay for 
poorer articles. 

To succeed in this work one must be a fine cook, a 
good judge of foods and a fine business woman. One 
who is easily discouraged will not be likely to work 
up a very large trade. A strict book account of all 
transactions should be kept and a scale of prices pre¬ 
pared from which there must be no deviation. 

Except in special cases it will be found that, if cash 
payments are insisted upon, they can be met by the 
customer, and there will be less danger of difficulties 
than where the credit system is followed. 

To begin as the lady above mentioned started neces¬ 
sitates the giving away of considerable food until a 
trade is established, but it is really a cheap way of 
advertising, and pays in the long run. 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 187 


TOWEL EXCHANGES* 


In any enterprising town of eight or ten thousand 
inhabitants a towel exchange may be run with profit. 
A woman who has tried it gives her experience as fol¬ 
lows to the editor of a progressive periodical devoted 
to women: 

“We bought a towel rack and two and one-half 
yards of toweling, made a roller, put it on the rack 
and started. Many of the proprietors of stores and 
offices had never heard of such a thing as we pro¬ 
posed. I would unroll a towel, telling them at the 
same time that I intended starting a towel exchange 
and would be pleased to furnish them with clean tow¬ 
els at a reasonable rate. 

“ ‘Oh, do you want to sell that? How much do you 
want for it?’ 

“ ‘No,’ I would reply, ‘this is not for sale. Here is 
the idea. I will put up one of these racks in your store 
and put a towel like this on it once a day, or every 
other day, as you prefer. I will send a boy who will 
remove the soiled towel and put a clean one in its 
place. Thus you will always have a clean towel, 
which is something every store should have.’ 

“ ‘How much do you charge?’ 

“ ‘Well, for a clean towel every day I shall charge 
twenty cents a week. For one every other day, fifteen 
cents a week.’ 

“The reply almost invariably was: ‘You can put my 
name down and I will try it.’ 


188 HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 

“We made a success of it, too. I started in with 
cotton toweling at five cents per yard, and gradually 
changed to linen. My husband and I washed every 
morning, and as soon as the towels were almost dry 
we would fold them up nicely and run them through 
the wringer, which made them almost as smooth as a 
hot iron could have done. We got a child’s express 
wagon, large size, put a box in it with hinges on the 
lid, and divided it into two parts—one for clean, the 
other for dirty towels. My thirteen-year-old brother 
made the rounds with it every morning before school. 

“Of course the newspapers wanted their pay taken 
out in advertising, so we had an item in the local col¬ 
umns of two papers. That helped to make our work 
known. The butchers wanted theirs taken out in 
meat. That suited us, too. Everything was done on 
business principles. I had printed statements and 
would make out the bills and present them every 
week, marking them paid as I received the money. 
I carried on the business for three months, and then 
sold it to a woman with a large family for just what 
the towels and racks cost me. In that time I had 
cleared over sixty-five dollars. This amount, under¬ 
stand, was what I cleared, for I had, besides, made 
the cost of the toweling, racks, soap, etc. I should 
not have sold out had we not been leaving the town. 

“The towel exchange in cities grows to be a big 
business, demanding considerable help and numerous 
teams and wagons to do the delivery and picking up 
but it can be worked in smaller towns quite as well. 
On my list I had printers, butchers, blacksmiths. 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


189 


wagon-makers, grocers, dry goods merchants, plumb¬ 
ers, photographers, lawyers, doctors, bakers, confec¬ 
tioners, moulders and barbers, besides several public 
school buildings. I had plenty of spare time for my 
other work, and the comfort of knowing that, al¬ 
though we were obliged to work hard for our living, 
we were succeeding in making our expenses.” 

What has been done can be done again, and the 
above experience ought to encourage a great many 
with whom the financial outlook now seems hopeless. 
A start may be made with a comparatively small 
amount of money, and the work is really not very dis¬ 
agreeable, for, in these days of excellent washing 
fluids, soiled towels may be laundered with compara¬ 
tively little labor. If it is possible to begin with the 
linen toweling, it is wise to do so, because it is much 
more easily laundered and wears longer, which, of 
course, is a saving in time and money. There are 
many places where racks need not be procured, for 
towels a yard in length are preferred to the roller 
towels. One would, of course, be obliged to furnish 
more of them at the same price than of the roller 
towels. 


PHOTOGRAPHER'S SUPPLIES. 

A businesslike girl in a Western village fitted up 
an unused shed belonging to h&* father and put in a 
stock of photographer’s supplies. She obtained these 
supplies from a friend in the city, who was willing to 



190 HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


let her have them on commission, and so she was 
enabled to open her store with quite a nice stock of 
goods which had not cost her a cent. As her rent cost 
her nothing, her parents could not oppose the ven¬ 
ture, although they did not believe she would make 
enough to pay for her time. Her home was situated 
on a corner lot, in a well-traveled portion of the vil¬ 
lage, and her sign was plainly visible from one of the 
streets along which was a fine cycle path. She was 
an enthusiast on photography, and knew the value 
of a “dark room” to cyclists some distance from home. 
Before opening her shop she had learned how to de¬ 
velop and mount photographs acceptably. It chanced 
that she opened her shop at the beginning of the 
kodak fever, and, as there was no similar establish¬ 
ment within many miles, she soon built up a paying 
business, much to the astonishment of her parents. 

- 0 - 


BAKED BEANS AND BROWN BREAD. 


A Boston woman who contemplated going to Mon¬ 
tana first sought and obtained employment in a Bos¬ 
ton bakery. She worked there for six months, then 
started out to seek her fortune. It was in the days 
when female help was scarce in the West and every¬ 
thing advertised as “home cooking” sold for good 
prices. 

She put advertisements in the local papers to the ef¬ 
fect that she was prepared to furnish Boston baked 




HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


191 


beans and brown bread to private families at usual 
rates, and soon she had all she could do. While a ma¬ 
jority of the families preferred to have theirs on Sun¬ 
day morning, they invariably chose some other day when 
told that her Sunday list of customers was full, rather 
than be deprived of her beans and brown bread. She 
soon had so many of the regular customers who took 
her merchandise on certain days each week that she 
could not sell at all to the chance buyers. She did 
not try to secure more customers than she was able 
to supply herself without help, for rent was high and 
servants’ wages higher, and she knew that she could 
not make as much, proportionately, and would have 
more care and worry by trying to enlarge her busi¬ 
ness. Her customers always sent for their beans and 
brown bread on the appointed day, and so she was 
not obliged to pay delivery expenses. She now owns 
one of the finest homes in Montana. She was fortu¬ 
nate, of course, fn going to Montana just when she 
did, but the successful woman always owes a large 
part of her success to the intuition which tells her 
just when to undertake a new enterprise. 


HERB GARDENS* 


It is surprising that more women have not thought 
of herb gardens, when considering how they may earn 
money that will be all their own. This source of in¬ 
come is open to women who live even in villages, for 




192 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


a corner of the back yard may be made to yield an 
income that is not to be despised. It is not difficult 
to raise herbs, and it is really a pleasant sort of oc¬ 
cupation. 

If you have only the hack part of your lot to use for 
the herb garden you must, of course, make the best of 
it, whatever the soil may be. If you live on a farm, or 
where there can be a choice, select good, light soil 
and have it made very rich with well-rotted manure. 
If you have but little space you will find it most con¬ 
venient to plant your herbs rather closely together in 
beds small enough to allow of your reaching half 
across them from any side. Have the paths between 
the beds wide enough to allow of your weeding your 
plants comfortably. If you are where you can have 
as much space as you want it is best to plant the 
herbs in long rows far enough apart to allow of your 
walking between them on a dewy morning without 
getting your skirts soiled. 

Sage, caraway, coriander, catnip, thyme, lavender, 
are all perennials, and when once started will not 
need a great deal of care to keep them growing year 
after year. A writer of experience on this subject 
says: 

“These herbs should have a good mulching of old 
manure or compost every fall, which should be turned 
under in the spring at the same time that the earth 
is loosened and made mellow around the plants; after 
this an occasional hoeing or forking over of the soil 
while the plants are making growth is all the care 
necessary to keep them in a healthy, growing and 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


19i> 


profitable condition for several years at least. But as 
soil often grows tired of one kind of crop, and as the 
plants may get rootbound and not do very well, it is 
wise to make new beds and either separate the old 
roots or raise new plants and pull up the old ones 
once in a while. However, the conditions of soil and 
growth are so unlike in different places that each 
grower must use her own judgment as to when new 
plants would be preferable to the old ones. 

In a small garden it would not be wise to try to 
raise more than three or four varieties of herbs, but 
one’s choice should depend upon the probable market. 
One might ascertain at her grocer’s or the nearest 
drugstore for what she would be most likely to find a 
market. 

Upon her list of marketable herbs our gardener 
must not neglect to put sweet basil, summer savoi^ 
and sweet marjoram, all of which are annuals. She 
must also raise parsley, a plant whose leaves are used 
in cookery and its root as an aperient medicine. There 
is nearly always a demand for parsley, more especially' 
if it is attractive in appearance. 

If one would have a steadily increasing market for 
her herbs she must use the greatest care in curing 
them. They should never be cut except in the middle 
of the day, when the sun has dried them thoroughly. 
They are best when dried in a cool, airy room, as the 
sun and wind impair their flavor. It is better if they 
can be dried without being washed, but this is not 
always possible. 

One woman makes a practice of spreading clean 


194 HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


straw around the roots of her plants two or three 
weeks before she expects to begin cutting, then, when 
it rains, the sand and dirt are not beaten into the 
' leaves. She packs her herbs in paper boxes when 
they are perfectly dry, and they look so neat and 
tempting that they always sell well. A person who 
purchases of her once is sure to do so again. Each 
year she fills many small paper bags with herbs and 
sells them to new customers for five cents each. This 
is for the purpose of drumming up trade. It does not 
require much persuasion to get any one to buy herbs 
when but five cents need be expended, and she knows 
that the chances are the purchasers will soon be send¬ 
ing to her house for a larger quantity. She has her 
name and address stamped on every bag. 

In addition to her herbs she raises red peppers and 
the large green varieties of peppers used for man¬ 
goes. Of late years she has been experimenting 
along a line that bids fair to be remunerative. It is 
in raising boneset, sarsaparilla, spikenard, ginseng 
rand various mints, and the cultivated plant is, in her 
estimation, far superior to its wild brother. She finds 
! It more difficult to raise these plants than those which 
. have become used to cultivation, but she says it is 
also more interesting. Her idea is to make liniments, 
spring bitters, salves, cough syrups and various home 
remedies whose ingredients are principally roots and 
herbs. 

Her lavender always sells readily. There are still 
many housekeepers who cling to the sweet, old-fash¬ 
ioned habit of placing lavender blossoms among their 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


195 


linens and in their bureau drawers. Besides, she 
makes a nice perfume of it, for which she is finding a 
fairly good market, although she has been at it but 
short time. | 


BUTTER-MAKING. 


When one has an opportunity to visit at farm 
houses and see how the butter is usually made, one no 
longer wonders that there are so few who find butter¬ 
making profitable. A thorough knowledge of scien¬ 
tific butter-making, applied to the conditions existing 
in the average farm house, would result in a vast im¬ 
provement, and there would be less call for creamery 
products. Many women say they would prefer to buy 
butter sent directly from the farm, if they could only 
be sure that it would be good, but, as a rule, butter¬ 
making is carried on in so haphazard a way that, 
while we find it nearly perfect one week, we know 
that it is liable to be hardly fit to eat the next. 

In successful butter-making there must be careful 
attention to details, scrupulous cleanliness, and as 
even a temperature as it is possible to attain. One 
must have a keen sense of smell, keen sight and deft¬ 
ness of touch. It should be constantly kept in mind 
that milk is easily aifected by a tainted atmosphere, 
and that good butter cannot be made from tainted 
milk. One really ought to have a room devoted ex¬ 
clusively to milk if she thinks of making butter for X 



196 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


profit, and nothing else should be allowed in it. It 
should not be entered directly from the kitchen, for 
the kitchen odors must not be allowed to reach it, as 
they would were there direct communication. The 
ideal arrangement is to have a detached milk house, 
kept at the proper temperature in cold weather by 
steam pipes running from the plant used to keep the 
Jiouse comfortable. Of course there are few who can 
&ave the ideal house. Since butter always brings the 
ll^est price in winter, arrangements should be made to 
fieep milk and cream from freezing. Some put it into 
the cellar, but no matter how well built a cellar may 
be, it never has sufficient ventilation, and the butter 
acquires an unpleasant flavor in consequence. A milk 
room can be heated very well by means of a large 
stove, where the fire is never allowed to burn briskly 
enough to raise the temperature suddenly or to a too 
high degree. If a room in the house is to be utilized 
for the purpose, there should be a little hall between 
it and the kitchen which will tend to prevent the 
>kitchen odors from penetrating. 

One may learn a great deal of the theory of butter- 
making by attending the summer schools of agricul¬ 
ture which are held in so many States. In one such 
jehool, lately held, a lady who attended all the lec¬ 
tures summed up the essentials to success as taught 
here as follows: 

“Cleanliness and attention to details, the deep set¬ 
ting of milk at a low temperature in a clean atmos¬ 
phere, ripening the cream at a uniform temperature 
<of sixty-two degrees, stopping the churn at the right 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


197 


moment and washing, salting and working the butter 
in the granular state.” 

There is certainly nothing very formidable about 
them, and it would seem that a woman of average 
ability, who is gifted with a talent for painstaking 
thoroughness, might make butter so superior to the 
creamery products that she would find it hard to sup¬ 
ply the demand. Home dairying is certainly found re¬ 
munerative by a great many women, but they send out 
a gilt-edged product that does not vary in quality 
from one year to another. 


VINEGAR. 


There is nearly always a market for good home¬ 
made vinegar, and more than one enterprising woman 
is earning her pin money by making and selling it. 
There are many housekeepers who object to the article 
for sale in the stores, believing that a large part of it 
is made up of chemicals that are injurious to the 
health. With this, as with the majority of home-made 
products, it is better from a financial point of view to 
seek a market by going from house to house and thus 
avoid paying a commission. Such a course is more 
important when finding a market for vinegar than for 
almost anything else, because housekeepers are slow 
to believe their grocers when told that vinegar is 
home-made and strictly pure. If one expects to make 
a reputation that will sell her vinegar without adver- 




198 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


tising she must never use chemicals of any sort. She 
should have different kinds of vinegar for sale, for 
what suits one is not always liked by another, and 
there are women who, if offered cider vinegar will be 
very sure to ask for maple vinegar, or that which has 
been made of corn or pieplant. When one can sur¬ 
prise them by giving them exactly what they ask for, 
erne is almost sure to make a sale. One woman whose 
vinegar always finds a good market brings it to town 
in two-quart glass jars neatly labeled. Each brand 
is as good as it can possibly be made, and is always 
what it purports to be. She also makes fine spiced 
vinegars, which are brought in pint jars. These can¬ 
not always be obtained at stores, and she finds many 
purchasers who are more than glad to buy of her. 

-o- 


CHEESE-MAKING* 


As this book is not intended for the woman with 
money enough to undertake ventures of magnitude 
so much as for those seeking to make pin money, this 
article will only offer suggestions to those who have 
cows and wish to earn money at home by making 
cheese. 

One does not need elaborate paraphernalia in order 
to make good cheese at home. Buy a good cheese 
hoop, a clean tub, a good dipper and a boiler. You 
will, besides, need a pair of scales and an accurate 
thermometer. In cheese-making you will find that it 




HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 199 


does not pay to do anything by guess. If you use 
rennet tablets buy them by the package, and you will 
then get directions for using them. Do not make the 
mistake of using more than is called for, or you will 
have tough cheese. If you prefer, and have calves to 
butcher, you can save your own rennet. Do not begin 
until you have read enough about cheese-making to 
at least know how curds and whey should look. Any 
good farm journal or domestic periodical can supply 
you with a back number containing directions for 
making cheese. Do not imagine that there is no work 
connected with cheese-making, for it requires a great 
deal of labor and almost constant supervision, but it. 
is one of the most interesting of employments. 

One woman, whose cheese is always in demand, has 
only three cows, but before making a cheese she ar¬ 
ranges with her neighbors for the purchase of what 
milk they have to spare on the morning of the day on 
which the cheese is to be started. She has regular 
customers in the city whom she supplies with butter 
and eggs, and many of them take a whole cheese at a 
time. They like it when it is new, even though it is 
eaten too quickly to be profitable. She also sells 
many bowlfuls of the salted curd—an article of food 
that many people like, but few can purchase, because 
it does not keep long enough to be on sale at the 
Stores. She frequently sells the entire hoopful of curd* 
before putting it into the press at all, and she often 
starts cheese before driving to town with her butter, 
that she may have fresh curd to take along, for she 
knows there will be a call for it among her customers. 


200 HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


HOTBEDS. 


One energetic woman earns her summer vacation 
every year from her hotbeds. She says that the beauty 
at her employment lies in the fact that it lasts but a 
small part of the year, and she can have the remain¬ 
der of the time to herself. She has five hotbeds six 
feet wide by fifteen feet in length. They are very 
simply constructed. Shallow trenches were dug, and 
a box frame of heavy planks, about twenty-six inches 
high at the back and ten in front, was firmly placed 
in each trench and well banked with manure. Cleats 
were fastened inside these frames for the support of 
the glass covers, three of which were fastened on 
each bed with strong hinges. Having the cover of the 
hotbed thus divided into three portions, each five by 
six feet in size, the work of tending the beds was 
much lighter than it would otherwise have been. 

People living in the suburbs of a city nearly always 
try to have a small garden, and they usually prefer 
to buy plants to depending entirely upon seed. This 
is also true of a majority of farmers, who are too busy 
early in the season to attend their hotbeds. It was 
among such people that this woman found her mar¬ 
ket. She soon gained a reputation for selling strong, 
thrifty plants, and after the fourth year she was no 
longer obliged to seek a market, for it sought her. 

■ She told a reporter that her hotbeds brought her a 
-.clear profit of one hundred and eighty dollars during 
vfche spring of 1897, and that she might have made still 
more had she not run short of some plants. 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


201 


PIGEONS* 


A nice little sum may be made each year by raising 
pigeons for market. They sell, in many markets, for 
from thirty-five to sixty cents a pair, the price varying 
with the season and the perfection of the birds. They 
multiply rapidly, and are so easily raised that it is 
surprising that more women living on farms and in 
villages have not taken up this method of earning 
money. You must have an equal number of males 
and females when starting into this business, for they 
mate, like all birds. Each pair will raise several fam¬ 
ilies during the year. They usually lay two eggs, 
then begin setting. The eggs hatch in eighteen days, 
l)ut they frequently lay eggs for the next family when 
their first one is less than a week old. They are not 
at all particular as to nests, but insist on having some 
place to call their own. Shallow boxes a foot square, 
with a small opening left for a doorway, answer the 
purpose nicely. If you live on a farm they will get 
their own living for the most part, but in villages 
they must be fed grain. Wherever you live there 
must be sand, eggshells and broken plaster for them 
to go to as they like. They also require clay, and rock 
salt should always be where they can find it. 

One woman, who lives in a village, makes quite a 
nice sum out of her pigeons, although she is obliged 
to keep them confined, because her neighbors do not 
like them. She has a large yard, covered and sur¬ 
rounded with wire netting. She is, of course, obliged 



202 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


to be careful as to the cleanliness of the surroundings, 
for otherwise her birds would die. It is much more 
work to care for pigeons under such conditions, but 
she thinks it pays better than it would to attempt to 
raise poultry in the same amount of space, because 
they bring more per pair. She has a second yard, 
also screened in, where the young birds are placed as 
soon as they leave the parents. 


CORSETS, BANDS AND DRESS FORMS. 


The success of Annie Jenness Miller proves what 
can be done by women who have original ideas re¬ 
garding woman’s dress, more especially if they run 
on lines combining beauty and comfort. 

There is a woman in Minnesota who, being uncom¬ 
fortably stout, set herself the task of inventing a cor¬ 
set waist that would be comfortable, yet shapely. She 
succeeded in designing something that other women 
wanted, and, before she realized it, she had enough 
orders to warrant her in renting an office and hiring 
help. She next invented an obesity band for women 
that was considered so good and comfortable that doc¬ 
tors recommended its use for those who were preg¬ 
nant and who were thereby enabled to get about with 
greater ease. She next turned her attention to break¬ 
fast waists and dress forms, and all of her garments 
seem to be so well liked that she has as much work 
as she can attend to. 




HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


203 


Another woman designed a corset waist coming 
below the hips and having buttons on its lower edge 
to which fasten petticoats. This she carries from 
house to house, soliciting orders, and, as the garment 
is especially nice for women with large hips, and is 
also liked by women looking for hygienic garments, 
she takes enough orders every day to keep two sewing 
women busy at her home. 

With all that has been done in this line of dress 
reform, women’s dress is yet far from being satisfac¬ 
tory, and there are plenty of opportunities for bright, 
inventive women to make money designing garments 
that are both comfortable and artistic. In this day 
they must be artistic or they will not meet with suc¬ 
cess. They must be built on hygienic principles, and 
they must be well made. A person should know how 
to cut and fit by measurement instead of patterns be¬ 
fore attempting to earn money in this way. One who 
has served an apprenticeship to a tailor will be more 
sure to satisfy her customers, because she will have 
had opportunities to learn the necessity of exactness. 


GREENS. 


There is a woman who has several hotbeds devoted 
to the raising of greens, besides quite a large garden 
devoted to the same purpose. She has fine greens for 
sale before they are generally found in stores, and 
they always look so fresh and tempting that they 




204 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


sell readily at a good price. Most of them are peddled 
from door to door by her two boys, who receive a 
commission on what they sell. Many housewives 
drive directly to her home, where they make their 
own selections. Restaurant keepers are glad to buy 
of her, but she seldom goes to them except as a last 
resort, for they are not willing, as a rule, to pay what 
she can get elsewhere. 

By applying to her, one may have a choice of spin¬ 
ach, young beets, young turnips, Swiss chard, lamb’s 
quarter, plantain, mustard, kale, nasturtiums, Brus¬ 
sels sprouts, and, in fact, almost everything, wild or 
cultivated, that any one ever cares to use for greens. 


MOTHER'S ASSISTANT. 


There are a number of nice old ladies who are earn¬ 
ing a living for themselves by going out by the day 
to take care of babies. They charge fifty cents for a 
day and twenty-five cents for an evening if relieved 
by half-past ten o’clock. If obliged to remain until 
midnight they charge fifty cents. They thoroughly , 
understand the care of young children, and are a boon 
to mothers who have insufficient help, more especially 
when there is sickness in the family. 

This is a nice field of labor for elderly women who 
no longer keep house for themselves, but live with 
their children. 

They can make known their willingness to work 




HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


205 


by leaving their names at the various intelligence of¬ 
fices and by advertising. They must he sure to add 
that they can give good references. They often find 
work by telling physicians of their wish to get it, 
their qualifications and their charges per day. Friends 
of the family sometimes are enabled to find employ¬ 
ment for them, when once they know what sort of 
work is desired. 


CONFECTIONS AND FRUIT JUICES. 

One can think of few ways by which a woman, 
whose home is in a flat, can earn money without being 
considered a nuisance, yet there is one such woman 
who has solved this question to her satisfaction, and 
her neighbors make no complaint. She has built up 
quite a little business in the making and selling of 
confections, and this has led, naturally, to the prepa¬ 
ration of fruit juices. She has a fine storeroom in the 
building where she rents, else she could not carry on 
her work there. 

During the season when oranges and lemons are 
plentiful she candies sufficient peel to fill her orders 
for a year, and the juice from the fruit is carefully 
bottled. She makes less on that than she does on the 
candied peel, so no fruit is purchased simply for the 
juice, excepting grapes. 

She sells a great deal of the grape juice to hospi¬ 
tals, although private parties send in orders, and the 



206 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


grocery stores are glad to handle it for her. Her 
other fruit juices find a ready market among private 
families, who purchase them for their medicinal vir¬ 
tues, and at drug stores and other places where there 
are soda fountains. 

Her candied peel and citron are now called for at 
a number of grocery stores, where it has been kept 
for several seasons in preference to that put up by 
any one else, for hers is always good. 

She also prepares candied fruits for the holiday 
trade and for fine parties. 

She has nicely printed circular letters, which she 
sends out to solicit orders, and she is gradually build¬ 
ing up a good business. Although she began with 
confections, there is every indication that she will 
make more selling grape juice than in any other 
branch of her work, because its efficacy in illness is 
becoming more generally recognized every year, and 
doctors are glad to recommend the purchase of that 
which they know to be pure and carefully put up. 


FARMING* 


It has not been many years since women began 
to realize that there was no real reason why they 
should not go into farming as well as the male mem¬ 
bers of the family. Now, farming is one of the first 
thoughts of the broken-down teacher or clerk who is 
told that she must have a change of employment, and 




HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 207 


there are few of us who do not know at least one 
woman who is a successful farmer. There is a Min¬ 
nesota woman who owns three hundred and twenty 
acres of land, and cultivates it herself, hiring help 
only during harvest. She is considered one of the 
State’s successful farmers, too. 

Unless one has sufficient money to buy a farm, one 
must become a landholder under the Homestead Law. 
This varies a little in the different States, so it is 
best to send to Washington for a pamphlet entitled, 
“Circular from the General Land Office, Showing the 
Manner of Proceeding to Obtain Title to Public 
Lands.” This contains a great deal of information 
that will be found useful to the prospective land- 
owner, and should be carefully studied. It contains 
a list of all the land offices in the different States, and 
tells what officials should be addressed in the matter 
of taking up land. 

A Dakota writer of experience says: 

“One may take a homestead and file on it, which 
in this State will cost fourteen dollars. She may then 
r take six months before moving on the land. At the 
expiration of that time she must move to it and live 
there for about eight months, after which, if she 
wishes, she may ‘prove up’ by paying at the rate of 
one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre and call it 
her own; or, if she prefers, she may live on the land 
six months out of each year for five years, and then 
make what is called a ‘final proof,’ which is simply 
calling witness to the fact that she has held her land 
in good and regular order, and is entitled to a full 


208 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


claim to the same. I think this costs about eight dol¬ 
lars besides the advertising. Any one in the land 
business can tell you about that. 

“The improvements required will be a house or 
frame dwelling, but that term is quite technical and 
applies to any board structure, from one six by eight 
feet in size to the well-built farm house. There must 
be a well and a certain amount of land under cultiva¬ 
tion. Such matters are not inquired into with any 
very great rigidity, but one must take a solemn oath 
to the effect that such and such laws have been com¬ 
plied with, and few women would be willing to swear 
to an untruth. 

“When this section of the country was opened up 
some fourteen years ago many young women took up 
land. All girls taking up land must be twenty-one 
years of age in order to do so. Sometimes four frame 
houses or, in the common parlance, ‘shanties,’ were 
located on the adjoining four corners of the four quar¬ 
ter sections forming the whole section of land. This 
gave them a sense of companionship and neighborli¬ 
ness which was very pleasant. There is something 
novel, and enjoyable, too, about the free, untram¬ 
meled life in the West, where many conventionalities 
are laid aside and one comes near to nature’s heart. 

“If desired, final proof need not he made at the end 
of the five years. It may be delayed until seven years 
after the first filing, if one wishes to do so. This is a 
saving in one direction, since taxes need not be paid 
until the land has come under the ‘final proof.’ ” 

Men of experience say that it is often possible to 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


209 


buy land with buildings on for less than the buildings 
cost, if one watches for such opportunities and stands 
ready to avail herself of them. So many people start 
West without due reflection. They delude themselves 
with the thought that they will become independent 
quite quickly and pleasantly, and when the reaction 
comes it is more than they can bear. They can see 
no break in the cloud that envelops them, and are 
willing to make any sacrifice in order to get back to 
their old home. They cannot be talked into seeing 
the matter in a different light. They are determined 
to sacrifice themselves, and any one who is fortunate 
enough to meet them while in this mood will have an 
opportunity to get a farm for less money than would 
be required to keep up a claim for the five years des¬ 
ignated in the homestead laws. 

To go into farming a woman must either be able to 
do the work herself or she must have some way of 
earning sufficient money to hire it done for her. She 
must make the start, fully realizing that, for the first 
years, there is apt to be more work than money. 

All through the East there are abandoned farms 
which may be had for almost a song. Young men have 
left them to go into cities or out West, and the old peo¬ 
ple are no longer able to work them. There are many 
who are just beginning to realize that money is to be 
made on these farms, more especially when situated 
near a good market, and a few years later they will 
not be bought as cheaply as they may be now. There 
are many women who are now making money on 
these abandoned farms. In some respects they are 


210 


HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


better adapted to work such farms than one in the 
West, where grain is the principal product. 

There is a certain freedom and independence in 
farm life that, to many, more than compensates for all 
its hardships. The farmer may be very poor, but it is 
a different sort of poverty from that felt in the cities, 
for it brings less degradation. 


PAPER FLOWERS* 


A little money is to be earned by making paper 
flowers, if one knows how to do the work artistically. 
A dainty little old lady in one of our large cities visits 
the downtown offices, where she finds a market for a 
great many of hers. In one office there was a large 
vase of carnation pinks that looked as if they had just 
been gathered and placed there with artistic careless¬ 
ness. They were so perfect that they who came into 
the office stopped to smell of them, and were greatly 
surprised to discover that they were only paper. They 
brightened the office for many weeks, and only cost 
thirty cents. 

This old lady never offers a flower for sale until she 
has learned to make it so well that it is difficult to 
tell it from the natural blossoms, which she kept be¬ 
fore her for a guide. She makes most of her flowers 
during the summer months, when there is little sale 
for them, and when she can obtain plenty of natural 
flowers to serve as models. 



HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


211 


When cold weather comes she has many boxes of 
them neatly labeled and stacked against the walls of 
her room. Then she watches the social column of the 
local papers, and when she reads of a prospective 
entertainment she immediately calls upon those who 
are to give it to see if they do not want to buy some 
of her flowers to mix with the natural blossoms in 
decorating the rooms. They are nearly always glad to 
get them, for there are many places where they can 
be used as advantageously as cut flowers, and where 
the deception is not likely to be discovered. Her 
heaviest trade comes about the holiday season, and 
there have been times when she has sold her entire 
stock and found herself quite unable to supply the de¬ 
mand. 

In cities where there are flower festivals and carni¬ 
vals, or where the windows are decorated at fair 
time or on any gala occasion, the maker of paper 
flowers will be sure to find a market for her work. 
During the holiday season the woman with pretty 
paper flowers who appears on the scene while a 
church is being decorated will not be likely to lack a 
welcome. 

- 0 - 

BOTTOMING CHAIRS* 


A girl whose father had upholstered furniture for a 
living was left an orphan dependent upon her own re¬ 
sources. She took up such of his work as he had 




212 HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 

taught her, and which was not too great a tax on her 
strength, and now she is making a good living recov¬ 
ering worn furniture and putting new cane seats into 
chairs. She shows considerable business ability, and 
there is a fair prospect of her being able to reopen 
her father’s old shop before many months have passed 
away. She will then hire a competent man to do the 
heaviest of the work. 

-o- 

LACE HANDKERCHIEFS. 


Just before the holiday season a young lady may be 
seen making the rounds of private boarding houses 
and family hotels. She has dainty handkerchiefs to 
sell which she has been making ever since the last 
holiday season. Some are of lace, some hem-stitched, 
'some of drawn work and others of dainty hand em¬ 
broidery. She sells a handkerchief for a dollar and 
a half which would cost at least twenty-five cents 
more in the stores, and she seeks her customers 
among women whom she knows would be likely to 
appreciate the real value of her work. 


POLISHING HORNS. 


One woman, whose home is near a slaughter house 
in Chicago, makes her pin money by polishing and 
selling horns. She gets all the horns she can use 






HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 


213 


without paying for them, and does her work so nicely 
that it finds quite a ready market. Many of them are 
mounted or made into various fancy articles for the 
house and office, and others are prepared ready for 
mounting and either sold as they are or mounted in 
accordance with the customers’ orders. 


FANCY BOOK COVERS* 


One woman, who knows how to cover books beau¬ 
tifully, makes her pin money by converting her 
friends’ paper-covered volumes into books suitable 
for the parlor table or library. She uses sateen, 
denim, art calico, silk—almost any material, in fact, 
that her employer chances to have and that may be 
decorated to advantage. One book for a spare bed¬ 
room was bound in bed ticking, and made quite a 
handsome appearance. Often one may buy paper- 
covered volumes in which the print is as good as in 
the more expensive editions, and these are the ones to 
select for fancy bindings. Many book lovers are par¬ 
tial to fancy bindings, and this woman sells quite 
a number of the books she has bound during the holi¬ 
days and for birthday and wedding presents. 



214 HOW WOMEN MAY EARN MONEY. 

LETTERING* 


In small towns and villages, and sometimes in 
cities, a person with some artistic ability may earn 
considerable ‘money doing fancy lettering. It is often 
liked by large dry goods or grocery houses for their 
shop windows, or by other firms, who thus announce 
special offers. Mottoes for school rooms and clubs 
may also be sold, more especially where the worker is 
able to use colors nicely. At church fairs there is 
almost sure to be a demand for fancy lettering, where 
there are fancy booths and a rivalry among the young 
ladies as to whose shall be most attractive. As a rule, 
it is best to charge for such work by the hour, and of 
course one’s prices must be low until one has had 
enough experience to work quickly and to the best 
advantage. 


THE END. 









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